Thor: Ragnarok will hit theaters soon. Could it become the first Marvel solo film franchise to receive a fourth installment?
Thor: Ragnarok will invade theaters soon as the latest Marvel Studios film. It’s the third installment of the Thor franchise, one of the first to develop in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The titular character, Thor, debuted in 2011, after Hulk and Iron Man. Captain America followed later that year.
Since the creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, none of its films have received more than three installments. Iron Man, Captain America and Thor all have three pictures (Ragnarok wiill be No. 3), while others are in their infancy.
The future of the Iron Man and Captain America franchises are unknown. Iron Man hasn’t had a solo film since 2013, while there’s no confirmation for a fourth Captain America. Both titular characters will be in the next two Avengers films, but their futures are unknown.
Thor is in a similar boat. While Ragnarok keeps the franchise relevant, this doesn’t mean it will continue, as a fourth movie has not been confirmed.
Chris Hemsworth, the star of Thor: Ragnarok, will be in Avengers: Infinity War and the Untitled Avengers 4 movie. So his character remains alive for at least 18 more months. Essentially, it means if Thor survives the events of both Avengers films, the odds of him getting a fourth solo feature soar.
On Tuesday, Oct. 24, Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi told RadioTimes.com he would like to helm a fourth film. That’s a good sign, right?
"“I would like to come back and work with Marvel any time, because I think they’re a fantastic studio, and we had a great time working together,” Waititi told RadioTimes.com. “And they were very supportive of me, and my vision.“They kind of gave me a lot of free reign, but also had a lot of ideas as well. A very collaborative company.”"
Unfortunately for Thor fans, it means nothing. Idris Elba. who plays who plays Heimdall, also told RadioTimes.com he doesn’t know if this is it for the Asgardian world in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Hemsworth’s Marvel contract also goes against a fourth film. While he can always re-sign for more, he revealed to Collider in 2015 that Ragnarok, Infinity War and Avengers 4 were the last movies remaining on the Australian actor’s deal. As of this writing, there haven’t been reports about new Marvel movies added to his contract.
We probably won’t know if Thor gets a fourth movie until 2019, after Avengers 4 hits theaters. The same goes for other MCU characters. It depends on who survives the next 18 months and will be part of whatever the plan is for the unconfirmed Phase Four, if it even happens.
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Don’t cross your fingers for the future of Thor, especially if Marvel keeps to no solo franchise getting four movies. Even if a fourth picture happens, given how there were four years between Thor and the Dark World, an announcement may not come for a while.