Thor Love and Thunder: Taika Waititi Reportedly Received a Mandate to Keep MCU Movie Under 2 Hours

Taika Waititi did not have a “blank check” while working on Thor: Love and Thunder.

By Roktim Rajpal | Updated: 15 July 2022 15:36 IST

Thor Love and Thunder: Taika Waititi Reportedly Received a Mandate to Keep MCU Movie Under 2 Hours

Photo Credit: Disney/Marvel Studios

Chris Hemsworth in Thor: Love and Thunder

Highlights

Thor: Love and Thunder runtime is 119 minutes
Taika Waititi cut a “ton of stuff” from Thor: Love and Thunder
Thor: Love and Thunder is out in cinemas globally

Thor: Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi reportedly received a mandate from Marvel Studios to “bring this movie in under two hours”, according to podcaster Joanna Robinson. Funnily enough, we wondered if this was the case in our Thor: Love and Thunder review — and lo and behold, that actually turned out to be the case. It is being said that Waititi didn't really have a “blank check” on the fourth Thor movie, even though he enjoyed more freedom this time around than he did while working on its predecessor Thor: Ragnarok. The director, either way, had to “cut a ton of stuff”, resulting in a final runtime of 119 minutes.

There's no word, however, on who issued the mandate nor is anything known about the reason behind it. Robinson said on a recent episode of the House of R podcast from The Ringer: "Taika having a blank check on this is absolutely not the case. He got more leeway than he got with Ragnarok, but there was a mandate to bring this movie in under two hours. This comes in under two hours and they cut a ton of stuff out of this movie."

Thor: Love and Thunder Review: A Madcap Rush That Underuses Everyone

Her comments come days after it was reported that several cameos were cut from Thor: Love and Thunder. Jeff Goldblum and Peter Dinklage were to return as the Grandmaster and Eitri, respectively. Moreover, Lena Headey, was to make her Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) debut with the fourth Thor film, but her scenes didn't see the light of the day.

Waititi acknowledged these cuts, saying that they were needed in the “natural course of editing”. He also said that he is not a fan of the “Director's Cut”, which suggests that it is highly unlikely that we will get to see the unedited version.

Natalie Portman, who plays astrophysicist Jane Foster/ Mighty Thor, too addressed these edits last week, noting “whole sequences, planets, and characters were cut”.

Thor: Love and Thunder Ending and 2 Post-Credits Scenes, Explained

Thor: Love and Thunder revolves around Chris Hemsworth's Thor and Portman's Mighty Thor, as they team up to take on Christian Bale's menacing villain Gorr the God Butcher.

Besides Hemsworth, Portman, and Bale, the Thor: Love and Thunder cast includes the likes of Tessa Thompson as the king of New Asgard Valkyrie, Russell Crowe as the king of the Olympians Zeus, Jaimie Alexander as the God of Thunder's childhood friend Sif, and Waititi as the Kronan gladiator Korg.

The Guardians of the Galaxy appear in the fourth Thor film, with Chris Pratt, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Sean Gunn, Karen Gillan, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper reprising their respective MCU roles as Peter Quill/ Star-Lord, Mantis, Drax, Nebula, Kraglin, Groot, and Rocket.

Thor: Love and Thunder is playing in cinemas worldwide.

Why are they still making more Harry Potter? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Read Review

Thor: Love and Thunder

Release Date 7 July 2022
Language English
Genre Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Superhero
Cast
Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Chris Pratt, Jaimie Alexander, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, Jeff Goldblum, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Taika Waititi, Russell Crowe
Director
Taika Waititi
Producer
Kevin Feige, Brad Winderbaum

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Further reading: Thor Love and Thunder, Thor Love and Thunder runtime, Taika Waititi, Chris Hemsworth, Marvel, MCU, Disney, Natalie Portman, Hollywood