Despite Thor: Love and Thunder being a divisive entry into the MCU, it continued to follow a box office trend for the Thor franchise that could make Thor 5 this is even more likely to happen. Directed by Taika Waititi, Thor: Love and thunder was the highly anticipated new entry in the Thor next series Thor: Ragnarok and coming hot from the heels of Avengers: Endgame. Thor: Love and Thunder did not live up to these expectations, questioning whether a fifth Thor film would be made.
Thor: Love and Thunder is almost universally seen as a step back from Thor: Ragnarok in every way, including Chris Hemsworth, who is not very positive about his performance as the character. There's still a chance Hemsworth will redeem himself with a fifth Thor film, and the character's box office history could make that possible.
Thor: Love & Thunder continued Thor's positive box office trajectory
When Thor: Ragnarok was released, it rejuvenated the franchise in several ways, including spearheading the Thor series to new box office heights. Thor: Ragnarok grossed around US$315 million domestically (North America) and US$850 in total worldwide. This was a huge internal leap for both Thor: The Dark Worldwhich raised US$206 million, and Thorwhich raised US$181 million. Despite being the critical peak for the Thor franchise, the domestic box office still had a little left in the tank for the next film.
Every film in Thor the franchise has seen an increase in domestic box office over its predecessor and that rings true for Thor: Love and Thunder although many consider it a significant reduction in quality from its predecessor. Thor: Love and Thunder earned just over US$343 million domesticallya fantastic total for a fourth film in a franchise that was considered one of the MCU's smaller sub-franchises until the emergence of Taika Waititi.
Why Thor: Love & Thunder Made More Money Than Thor: Ragnarok Despite Worse Reviews
One thing needs to be noted about Thor: Love and Thunder total box office. It grossed about $761 million worldwide, which is about $90 million less overall than Thor: Ragnarok. The main reason it's not as significant a factor as usual is because Thor: Love and Thunder was released at a time when China wasn't releasing MCU films. Ragnarok earned 110 million dollars in China alone, which, if Love and thunder agreed, I would have placed Ragnarok's worldwide total as well. Internally, Love and thunder cleans easily and there are a few reasons why this was possible.
The public really liked the character Thor has developed since it was essentially reimagined in Thor: Ragnarok.
Following Thor: Ragnarok and the double whammy of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgameenthusiasm for the room Thor film was on the rise. In fact, it had the best opening weekend ever Thor franchise despite less-than-stellar reviews, and had a solid, if not typical, box office performance for an MCU film throughout the rest of its run. The other factor was simple; the audience really liked the character Thor has developed since it was essentially reimagined in Thor: Ragnarok and I wanted to see more of him laterEnd of the game.
How Thor's MCU's Positive Box Office Trend Makes Thor 5 More Likely
Despite not being able to reach critical levels of Thor: Ragnarokthe upward trend of domestic box office could convince Marvel Studios to make a fifth Thor film. First of all, the goal of studios is to make money and Even if a franchise has had diminishing returns, they will try to squeeze every last drop out of it before it is no longer profitable. With Love and thunder still being a huge success, there's no reason to assume that a fifth film could also be successful, even if it starts this downward trend.
Director Taika Waititi said he wouldn't return for another Thor film if Marvel Studios moved forward with another film in the franchise. Just like Waititi did with Thor: RagnarokThe arrival of a new director could help give the franchise a second chance after the franchise seemingly lost its luster twice after Thor: The Dark World and then again with Thor: Love and Thunder.
It's no secret that most MCU fans prefer Thor: Ragnarok to Thor: Love and Thunder. The former helped develop the character in new and interesting ways, making Thor a fan favorite. Avengers: Infinity War. While Thor: Love and Thunder has been divisive since its release, its box office success opens up the possibility that Marvel Studios could develop another Thor film at some point in the future.
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February 14, 2025
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July 25, 2025
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July 24, 2026
Source: The Numbers