Avengers was the first film series within the Marvel Cinematic Universe to surpass the traditional trilogy structure, but Thor will be the first hero to lead more than three movies on his own. Chris Hemsworth is reprising the God of Thunder for Phase 4’s Thor: Love and Thunder, and while there’s still a ways to go before the project begins filming, preproduction planning is coming along nicely. The latest word is that the fourth Thor movie has brought aboard a key Venom collaborator along for the ride.
As reported by DiscussingFilm, Venom editor Maryann Brandon has been hired to edit Thor: Love and Thunder. Along with the solo movie centered on the Spider-Man big bad, Brandon has frequently collaborated with J.J. Abrams, from her time on the TV show Alias to editing both the Star Trek movies he helmed to being brought board for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Brandon’s other notable credits include How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda 2 and Passengers.
So with the commercially successful Venom under her belt, Maryann Brandon now has the opportunity to leave her stamp on another superhero property. The Thor film series’ previous editors have been Paul Rubell on 2011’s Thor; Dan Lebental and Wyatt Smith on 2013’s Thor: The Dark World; and Zene Baker and Joel Negron on 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok.
Maryann Brandon will be working closely with Taika Waititi, who is not only reprising his directing duties and his role as Korg for Thor: Love and Thunder, but also co-wrote the script with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson. Waititi has been deep into post-production on his next movie, Next Goal Wins, but soon the majority of his attention will be on Love and Thunder. Once that’s done, then he can pivot to Star Wars.
When we left off with Thor at the end of Avengers: Endgame, he appointed Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie as the new ruler of New Asgard, and he departed Earth with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Because Thor: Love and Thunder is arriving before Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, it’s unclear what Thor’s standing with the team is at the start of his fourth cinematic adventure. That said, Groot voice actor Vin Diesel revealed earlier this year that some, if not all of the Guardians will appear in Love and Thunder.
Beyond that, the only concrete details that have been announced about Thor: Love and Thunder’s plot is that Valkyrie will be looking for her queen, and Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster will return as The Mighty Thor, the same mantle her comic book counterpart held for several years. The reasons behind this transformation haven’t been disclosed, but Portman has said her powers won’t be exactly the same as the Thor we’ve followed for nearly a decade now. Christian Bale has also been cast as the lead villain, who has yet to be identified.
Thor: Love and Thunder was once supposed to cap off the Phase 4 MCU saga in November 2021, but times have changed. Instead, it’ll arrive on February 11, 2022 as the penultimate Phase 4 movie, with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ending this period of the MCU on March 25, 2022. Learn what else the MCU is preparing for the big screen with our Marvel movies guide.
