Taika Waititi had created the perfect playbook for Thor, but it seemed that he threw it out when making Thor: Love and Thunder.

Taika Waititi has received a lot of flak for his direction and writing of Thor: Love and Thunder, which has been widely panned as one of the worst Thor films to have come out of the MCU, and that is including The Dark World. Thor has had his share of high and low moments in the MCU, and fans have collectively dubbed his run in Thor: Love and Thunder to be the most horrible of them.

However, it needs to be remembered that Taika Waitit was also responsible for some of the best Thor moments in the MCU, as depicted in Thor: Ragnarok. The question would be what changed between Ragnarok and Love and Thunder, such that the character became so unbearably unlike the warrior god that audiences have seen take on the likes of Thanos, Hela, and Malekeith.

Taika Waititi might have accidentally abandoned his playbook while making Thor: Love and Thunder

While Thor: Ragnarok was a film that gave Chris Hemsworth a chance to flex his comedic skills, the story also delivered some of the best Thor moments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The fight on the Bifrost after Thor loses an eye is routinely cited as one of the best Thor moments in the MCU. Taika Waititi’s philosophy in the film makes more sense given what he has told Collider, which might have been thrown out the window in Thor: Love and Thunder. He said:

Personally I feel if the movie’s called Thor, then Thor should be the best character. My main focus was making him cool & funny when he needs to be and heroic when he needs to be. If you’ve seen my other films, there’s always a balance between comedy and drama. I think that’s a satisfying story to watch.

While these sentiments ring true for Thor: Ragnarok, Thor: Love and Thunder is severely lacking in making Thor cool or funny, which contributes to how odd and off the character feels in the fourth Thor film. However, given that Marvel wanted a lighter Thor, as revealed by Waititi in the same interview, going back to darker Thor with the action of Thor: Ragnarok might be the right way to go for the character. Taking inspiration from Infinity War‘s Thor might be the best thing that can happen to the character.

Thor: Love and Thunder did have one great post-credit scene that needs a payoff in the MCU

While Thor’s story has largely been about the Norse pantheon and its internal problems, the introduction of Hercules would be the first time that there is an external threat that is aimed at Thor and his allies. Brett Goldstein cameoed as the character in Love and Thunder‘s post-credit scene, possibly setting him up as an antagonist for the coming Thor films.

Given that it is often that Thor and Hercules find themselves on the same side, it can be assumed that the Greek Pantheon might be playing a larger villainous role, with Hercules working to save his world from the machinations of evil gods.

While initially an antagonist to Thor, the duo could team up and have an adventure that is in line with what Marvel wants with Thor, while also introducing some darker aspects of the character into the MCU.

Thor 5 could also introduce Beta Ray Bill, the character that fans want to see in the MCU. There are other characters like Balder the Brave that still have to be introduced in the MCU. Perhaps Hercules could hunt down Balder as an alternate heir to Thor, which would then inform the core struggle of the film, having the heir to Asgard be torn between Thor and an image of his younger years.

Thor: Ragnarok can be streamed on Disney+