Thor's Next MCU Villain Should Be More Powerful Than Hela, Says Taika Waititi

Taika Waititi believes that a potential Thor 5 should feature a more powerful villain than Hela, who appeared in Thor: Ragnarok.

Director Taika Waititi says that Thor's next villain should be more powerful than the MCU's Hela.

In Titan's upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder The Official Movie Special book, Waititi shared his thoughts on a potential Thor 5. “What is left to do to [with Thor]? It's got to be something that feels like it's carrying on with the evolution of the character, but still in a very fun way and still giving him things to come up against that feel like they're building on the obstacles that he has to overcome," Waititi said. "I don't think we can have a villain that's weaker than Hela. I feel like we need to step up from there and add a villain that's somehow more formidable.”

Cate Blanchett's Hela was a force to be reckoned with in Thor: Ragnarok, Waititi's first directorial flick for the MCU back in 2017. She destroyed Thor's trademark hammer Mjolnir, killed the Warriors Three and took over Asgard. The God of Thunder even lost his right eye during his final showdown with Hela, and soon came to the realization that she could only be defeated by bringing on Ragnarok, the end of Asgard. Following Thor: Ragnarok, Waititi went on to helm 2022's Thor: Love and Thunder, which pitted the leading hero against Gorr the God Butcher (played by Christian Bale).

Thor's Future in the MCU

It's yet to be officially confirmed whether there will be a fifth installment in the Thor franchise, with Chris Hemsworth recently stating he was uncertain when he would come back to play the Asgardian Avenger. "I've got to be careful how I word that because I have no idea what's happening in the next phase," he revealed. "There's always conversations [...] But officially, I don't know."

Hemsworth went on to say, "I don't want to continue to do it until people are so exhausted that they roll their eyes when they see me come on the screen as that character." He added that he wants to keep Thor feeling fresh, shaking up the character for any future appearances. "I've loved being able to reinvent that character a few times. I don't have the answer yet, but I would love to try and [figure out] how we can do that again and keep it a little unpredictable."

All of the MCU's Thor movies are available to stream on Disney+.