Taika Waititi Reveals How The Seeds Of Thor: Love And Thunder Were Planted With Thor: Ragnarok - Exclusive

It's rare to find a fourth entry in a movie series that's as vital and exciting as "Thor: Love and Thunder." Through a combination of humor, lively visuals, and a storyline that enables the character to continue to evolve, co-writer and director Taika Waititi has created — in the words of his character Korg — "another classic Thor adventure."

Waititi's offbeat take on the space Viking (Chris Hemsworth) was first seen back in 2017 when "Thor: Ragnarok" hit screens. A lot has happened to Thor since then, not least of which was Thanos snapping away half of all life in the universe in "Avengers: Infinity War," until the Avengers, including a depressed Thor badly in need of a win, brought everyone back five years later in "Avengers: Endgame." Yet "Thor: Love and Thunder" is one of the few Marvel Cinematic Universe movies in Phase 4 so far that recaptures the adventurous spirit and beating heart of Phase 3.

In an interview with Looper, Waititi revealed one reason this could be: He and the other filmmakers behind "Thor: Ragnarok" started discussing Thor's next solo outing as soon as that film was released.

While the MCU's "Iron Man" and "Captain America" series ended at three movies apiece, when Taika Waititi came on board to direct the "Thor" series' third film, his fresh take infused the character and his world with newfound energy. After that experience, fans were hoping Thor would stick around for a fourth film, and according to Waititi, he, Chris Hemsworth, and the other people behind "Ragnarok" were already making plans to ensure Thor could do just that.

"Five years ago, we released ['Thor: Ragnarok'], and the night that it first opened, we all went around to some of the cinemas in LA, and then we went to dinner," Waititi remembered. "It was me, [president of Marvel Studios] Kevin Feige, [executive producer] Brad Winderbaum, Chris [Hemsworth], Tessa [Thompson], and a couple other people. Over dinner, we started talking about what would be next, and we came up with the whole idea of the montage [at the beginning of 'Thor: Love and Thunder'] of, 'This is where we left off with Thor and this is what he's been up to. This is what some of the adventures he'd been on over his life.'"

The idea Waititi and the others came up with on that fateful night can be seen in a number of similar moments of montage and flashback throughout "Thor: Love and Thunder," but Waititi also noted that no matter what he and other MCU filmmakers do, it all comes back to Marvel comics. "That whole idea of storytelling, of telling stories about these characters, it came also from the comics," Waititi observed. "Marvel takes all of these movies — they're all made from existing storylines and ideas that have come before in classic comic runs."

"Thor: Love and Thunder" is now playing in theaters.