Taika Waititi Answers The Burning Question About Jane Foster's Future As Mighty Thor

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) has had a rough few years thanks to Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his mission to wipe out half of all life itself in "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Endgame." He eventually overcomes his own guilt and trauma to join back up with the rest of Earth's Mightiest Heroes to defeat the Mad Titan, but his journey of self discovery is only just beginning: When the Asgardian returns to the big screen in "Thor: Love and Thunder" he'll be forced to look at his place in the cosmos, especially with the revelation that Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) now owns his old hammer.

Obviously this raises plenty of questions about how the scientist goes through such a transformation in the first place, as well as how the hammer gets reforged — remember, Hela (Cate Blanchett) smashes the weapon during "Thor: Ragnarok" as a way of proving her own strength. And as if the Jane of it all wasn't surprising enough for the hero, there's also the small problem of Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) who is about to make his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the Jason Aaron run of the comics, Gorr kills a fair number of gods in revenge for not stepping in to save his family — and the latest trailer for the film shows off an intense new look for the former Batman.

But with Jane taking on the mantle of Mighty Thor in the sequel, does this mean that Hemsworth's God of Thunder is on his way out? Thankfully Taika Waititi recently opened up about what "Thor: Love and Thunder" means for the future of the two heroes.

Thankfully, it doesn't look like Marvel Studios is ditching Chris Hemsworth's Thor any time soon — not according to Taika Waititi anyway. 

The critically acclaimed director spoke to Total Film about "Love and Thunder," and explained that it follows Jane's story from the comics — where she has cancer, and every time she transforms into Mighty Thor, it wipes out the effects of the chemotherapy. "We stick pretty closely to Jane's storyline, and what happened to Jane ... because that was such an influence on the film. We're trying to take the best parts of that."

Waititi went on to say that Jane's new transformation means Thor has to grapple with the fact that someone else has taken his place in the universe. "And also, it's really fun, the idea that Thor [has] got Stormbreaker, that big axe, and now his hammer's back and it's in the hands of someone else. It's no longer his hammer. It's the idea that someone's taking his place." 

Thankfully, he assured fans that this isn't the typical story of giving the title over to a new hero. "I think a lot of fans are gonna potentially assume, 'Oh, OK, this is the passing on of the torch'... I'm not privy to any plans Marvel has for the future, but I don't think that's the case." 

The MCU has recently focused on introducing newer versions of classic heroes. "Hawkeye" does it with Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), and "The Falcon and The Winter Soldier" sees Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) finally become Captain America. So even though Jane might be around the in the future (or not, depending on how the story plays out), it sounds like the Odinson isn't going anywhere for now.