Oscar-winning filmmaker Taika Waititi returns this summer with Thor: Love and Thunder, his second entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the fourth Thor film overall. The new film will follow Thor as he attempts to find inner peace and set aside his role as a cosmic warrior (in other words, the God of Thunder is experiencing a midlife crisis). This soul-searching is disrupted by Gorr the god butcher, and the reemergence of Thor's former flame, Jane - who now dresses like him and wields the same powers, for some reason.
Marketed as a romantic comedy as much as a superhero film, Thor: Love and Thunder is one of the most anticipated films of the year, both as another entry in the ever-growing Marvel saga and as Waititi's follow-up to his acclaimed black comedy anti-hate satire. Fans are excited to see how the New Zealand-born director mixes popcorn spectacle, romance, midlife crises, and his typical awkward slightly-edgy-but-mostly-good-natured humor. Below, we've broken down five films that tap into what we're hoping to see this July. These movies should put you in just the right head space for the romantic rollick through the cosmos.
5 Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Thor: Love and Thunder is the twenty-ninth feature film in the MCU, and die-hard fans will insist that the only way to prepare for it is to see the preceding twenty-eight films. There's some truth to this: even if you watched all three Thor movies before Love and Thunder, you would miss a lot between the end of Ragnarok and the start of Love and Thunder. Thor has seen his people slaughtered, failed to stop a genocide, gained an unhealthy amount of weight, and generally gone through the wringer in those bridging installments.
Even so, for those after the simple things (sexy gods, silliness, and Korg), the only necessary MCU film to check out before July is Waititi's previous entry, Thor: Ragnarok. In addition to finally giving Thor a personality and permission to be funny, Ragnarok gave indie darling Taika Waititi the chance to play in a ginormous multi-million dollar sandbox; and while some exciting indie filmmakers lose their vision in the belly of Hollywood's many-headed beast, Waititi's foray into blockbusters is true to his sensibilities, full of awkward humor, delirious comedy, melancholic undertones, and sly sweetness. His taste for slightly dark kitsch is underplayed in favor of Marvel's house-style CGI exuberance, but the planet Sakaar offers plenty of room for candy-colored absurdity. It will be exciting to see Waititi build on the tone and style of this film with the skills he has garnered during and since its production.
4 What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
In the latest trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder, we see the superhero on a mission of self-improvement, attempting to bulk up, change his mindset, and get in touch with himself. The humor here is drawn from an ancient celestial being caught in an all-too-familiar midlife crisis and dealing with it as any modern day adult would, as if he had consulted the pages of an ancient Norse self-help book. The idea of immortals attempting to adapt to the rhythms and mores of contemporary life is one Waititi explored with co-director and co-star Jemaine Clement in their supernatural mockumentary, What We Do in the Shadows. The story of undead roommates in modern day New Zealand, Waititi and Clement used the film to explore two hells: the world of demons, monsters, and eternal suffering; and the world of nightclubs, social gatherings, and technology. The vampires' endearingly earnest attempt to reconcile their primeval bloodlust and their desire to be hip participants in the community of the living is chronicled by a team of documentary filmmakers, protected by crucifixes, garlic, and the undead trio's hunger for attention.
What makes Chris Hemsworth's portrayal of Thor under Waititi's direction so lovable is his simultaneous obliviousness, arrogance, and earnestness. Thor is not a god who picks up easily on the emotions of others, and it seems like he has to learn a new lesson in humility and responsibility with each Thor film; but (at least since Ragnarok) he's got such a cheery, go-get-'em puppy dog attitude that one can't help but like him. The same quality is embedded in these vampires, and Waititi's take on the ancient's awkward attempt to modernize is one we're stoked for in Love and Thunder.
3 His Girl Friday (1940)
Waititi has said that Jane's reappearance in Thor's life as the Mighty Thor is going to be a major mind-blowing experience for the superhero. Not only has she been living her own life for years since the break-up, she has emerged stronger and more competent than ever; where Thor used to rely on her brains and she on his strength. Jane clearly does not need him at all anymore. If Thor is really set on leaving the superhero life and finding peace, this cannot be a bad thing; but no matter what, it's gotta sting. The even playing field the two former lovers embark on will be rife with tension, humor, insecurity, and will-they-won't-they, antics.
For a classic example of evenly-matched former lovers clashing as they work together, look no further than Howard Hawks' screwball masterpiece His Girl Friday. Starring Cary Grant as wily newspaper editor Walter Burns, and Rosalind Russel as his best reporter and ex-wife Hildy Johnson, the story kicks into motion when Hildy announces her plan to leave the newspaper business and marry a simple insurance agent. Walter attempts various schemes to thwart the marriage and get her to report on a murder case. Hildy resists until she discovers that the accused may be innocent, the victim of a political power play - at which point she attempts to balance her ruffled fiancé and the whirlwind pull of her editor and ex.
His Girl Friday is a unique entry in the battle of the sexes screwball pantheon for its portrayal of a man and woman who are not only intellectually but socially matched. Cary Grant exudes his typical clumsy suave charm, but he is almost overshadowed by Russel's faster-than-lightning wit and snark. A similar dynamic will likely develop between Thor and the Mighty Thor, hopefully giving Natalie Portman the chance to show off her underutilized comedic chops.
2 Greenberg (2010)
It's never too late for a good old-fashioned coming-of-age existential crisis - whether you're a teenager, a young adult, middle-aged, or an immortal celestial god, the sudden realization that you have no idea who you are or what you're doing can hit like a ton of bricks. Waititi's films are full of characters facing disillusion, realizing the faults in their idols (from the burn-out dad in his 2010 feature Boy to the fantasy Hitler in 2019's Jojo Rabbit - both characters, interestingly enough, played by Waititi himself) and (by extension) themselves. While one of the greatest filmic portrayals of crisis/coming of age is Mike Nichols' The Graduate (1967) (one of Waititi's favorite films), the definitive portrayal of a man-child in midlife crisis may be Ben Stiller's turn as the eponymous character in Greenberg, written and directed by Noah Baumbach. Tasked with watching over his successful brother's house for a while, Greenberg has decided to make the least of his time, dead-set on doing nothing. One character applauds him for this decision, painting his inactivity as a brave choice for someone his age (rather than a manifestation of depression, despair, and entitlement).
It's unlikely that Thor: Love and Thunder will go to the truly uncomfortable and prickly places that Baumbach takes his callous antihero to - but we've already seen Thor's capability for indulgence and inaction in the face of depression. While that angst is largely played off as a joke in Avengers: Endgame, with Love and Thunder tracking his recovery, Waititi has shown a magnificent ability to portray self-pitying losers as both comical and worthy of empathy. It will be interesting to see how he uses this quality to depict Thor's attempt to move away from the superhero business.
1 Eagle vs. Shark (2007)
Waititi's criminally underrated debut feature is also the only romantic comedy in his catalog - until Thor: Love and Thunder. Like the upcoming superhero comedy, Eagle vs. Shark is an unusual take on the rom-com structure. Its protagonists are both socially inept and ambitionless; its meet-cute is manufactured by the lead after multiple failed attempts; and its object of romantic fixation is a deeply troubled outcast with major anger issues and stunted compassion.
Initially dismissed as a typical early 2000s exercise in quirkiness, and irony, Waititi's debut is less accomplished than his later films, but his taste for whimsy comedy pulled from social awkwardness, slacker cruelty, and wounded innocence is already fully on display. The film also contains stop-motion flights of fancy, such as a sleeping bag chase at its climax that epitomizes its theme: love is not only for winners - it's the losers that might need it most.
Like Eagle vs. Shark, Waititi's vision for Thor: Love and Thunder is a take on and subversion of romance tropes. This makes the movie an ideal companion piece for the anticipated blockbuster. The juxtaposition of the two films illustrates the enormous strides Waititi has made in his film career, and the fact that, while his tools have sharpened and expanded, he is still the same artist, fixated on the same ideas and themes.