Director And Co-Writer Taika Waititi Discusses Thor's Motivation In Thor: Love And Thunder - Exclusive

When we last saw Thor (Chris Hemsworth) in "Avengers: Endgame," he was flying off with the Guardians of the Galaxy to new adventures while leaving Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) in charge of leading the Earth-bound colony of New Asgard. When we meet him again in "Thor: Love and Thunder," the character's regained his god-like physique and become key to the Guardians' efforts to help alien civilizations throughout the universe.

Despite his success as a superhero, Thor's life is still missing something. After all, since he was initially introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first "Thor" movie in 2011, he's lost both of his parents, his brother, most of his friends, and his home, plus he and Jane Foster broke up years ago. Now, even though he's surrounded himself with the quirky Guardians, there's still friction between him and the rest of the group. All of this leaves Thor feeling isolated but afraid to open himself up again to the possibility of heartbreak, which is where we find him as "Thor: Love and Thunder" begins.

In an exclusive conversation with Looper, Taika Waititi, the director and co-writer of "Thor: Love and Thunder" as well as the actor behind Thor's best friend Korg, revealed that it's that state of mind that drives Thor's journey in his latest adventure.

Waititi noted that love is a major theme throughout "Thor: Love and Thunder," and that it gives the movie a universal message. "Love driving us [is] a really important thing, because it's true," Waititi observed. "What drives humans is this need of love, and this need to be loved."

That makes Thor's desire for camaraderie and connection highly relatable, and also serves as a major source of motivation for the character. "[At the beginning of "Thor: Love and Thunder,"] Thor's going through a midlife crisis, and he's alone," Waititi shared. "Essentially, he's looking for family, he's looking for a purpose and looking for someone to love and for someone to love him. He hasn't really found it with all these adventures and all of these worlds he's going to save all these different aliens and stuff. He just knows how to be the hero, but that's a lonely existence."

Waititi explained that Thor's search for love will take him in different, sometimes unexpected directions. "A big part of that for him is experiencing love, and what does love actually mean?" Waititi said. "There are different forms of love in this film, and the title is a little deceiving."

"Thor: Love and Thunder" opens in theaters on July 8.