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Marvel Studios Rumored to be Fast Tracking a Sequel for an Original Avenger

Originally posted on Murphy's Multiverse
By Charles Murphy | Last updated 5/26/24

In early May, Disney’s top dog, Bob Iger, spoke publicly about his plan to reshape Marvel Studios’ release slate. We’re slowly going to decrease volume and go to probably about two TV series a year instead of what had become four and reduce our film output from maybe four a year to two, or a maximum of three,” said Iger, adding “And we’re working hard on what that path is.” That means that the release slate rolled out by the studio at D23 in 2022 probably isn’t something worth holding onto for fans as projects may be moving on and off the slate. According to a new rumor, one project that seems to be moving surprisingly quickly will be a sequel for one of the franchise’s longest-standing stars.

According to a new report by insider Daniel RPK, Marvel Studios is currently searching for a creative team to get a fifth film in the Thor franchise up and running. While the report did not include any potential writers or directors, it did indicate that the studio hopes to roll cameras on Thor V by the Fall of 2025.

After recreating the character over a three-movie arc (Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame), Chris Hemsworth has been pretty vocal about the portrayal of Thor in the latest installment, Thor: Love and Thunder. “I cringe and laugh equally at it,” said Hemsworth. “I think we just had too much fun. It just became too silly.” He’s also gone on the record multiple times to say he’d be willing to come back as the Odinson if the studio found a way to take the character in a new direction.

If I was going to do something again it would have to be tonally different. And we’d have to do something very drastic to keep people on their toes. Otherwise, it’s just the fatigue of those characters and those films, where people are like, “I’ve seen it.“
-Chris Hemsworth

Reading between the lines, it seems as though Hemsworth return as Thor is at least partially dependent on the absence of Taika Waititi, who directed the last two films. Interestingly enough, just as the studio begins a search for a new director, George Miller–who recently worked with Hemsworth on Furiosa–expressed interest in working with him again on the next Thor film. “I would work with Chris on anything. I really would. He’s a wonderful actor. He’s got the full range of all the skills,” said Miller. No matter who comes on board for Thor V, they’ll have plenty of source material from which to mine their next story and it shouldn’t be too hard to find a way to find a way scratch Hemsworth’s itch to reinvent the character one more time.

This article first appeared on Murphy's Multiverse and was syndicated with permission.

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