Taika Waititi has finished 'Thor 4' script, says Thor's weight remains 'ongoing discussion' with Marvel
To beer belly or not to beer belly, that is one question we've been pondering when it comes 2021's Thor: Love and Thunder.
Will Chris Hemsworth hold onto the extra stuffing his depressed Norse God acquired in this past summer's Avengers: Endgame (earning the nickname "Fat Thor," or the more politically correct "Bro Thor"), or return to his previously impeccable physique?
Yahoo Entertainment asked writer-director Taika Waititi, who, two months after shooting down rumours he'd finished the screenplay for Thor's fourth standalone adventure, spilled the beans that now he has in fact completed a draft (watch above).
"This is an ongoing debate that we're still having at Marvel," Waititi told us during an interview promoting his new festival-winning comedic WWII drama Jojo Rabbit. "'Cause we're trying to figure out how long — how many months or years — this is after Endgame, at what point does this take place?
"I think we always want to keep changing it up with Thor. He's so interesting when he's changing all the time."
Of course the Thor series will be dramatically changed up by the return of Natalie Portman's Jane Foster, who will emerge as Mighty Thor and may possibly be battling cancer in the story, borrowing from a comic storyline.
Read more: Christopher Eccleston wants Thor return
As for Thor's weight level, though, read between the lines of what Waititi said about "changing it up" and it sounds like Bro Thor will go down as a one-and-done for Marvel.
Hemsworth recently revealed that his character’s weight gain was originally meant to be reversed partway through Endgame, but he fought to keep it in.
“I enjoyed that version of Thor,” he told Variety. “It was so different than any other way I played the character. And then it took on a life of its own.”
“Physically, it was a good three hours in hair and makeup,” he added. “Then the prosthetic suit, particularly for the shirt-off scene, that was a big silicone that weighed about 90 pounds. It was certainly exhausting. I had weights on my hands and ankles just to have my arms and legs swing differently when I shuffled along through the set.”
Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the film’s screenwriters, defended the new heavier Thor from accusations of “fat-shaming” the character, saying his physical state was a commentary on depression.
“We wondered, ‘Okay, well, what if he does become a sort of depressive alcoholic?’ And the weight gain was just part and parcel of that state of mind. We didn’t go, like, ‘Let’s chunk him up, it’ll be hilarious’,” Markus told Vulture.
“And we leave him in that state at the end of the movie. Even though he’s emotionally resolved … We fix his problem, and it’s not his weight.”
Read more: Korg to return in Thor 4
Jojo Rabbit will screen at this year’s UK Jewish Film Festival as the Closing Night Gala at Picturehouse Central on Thursday 21 November, ahead of its nationwide release on 1 January, 2020. Watch a trailer below.
Thor: Love and Thunder is scheduled for release on 5 November, 2021.
