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Before Avengers: Endgame solidified the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s position as being the most dominant franchise in Hollywood, the MCU was far from perfect.

There were plenty of great MCU movies, but there were also a few movies, such as Thor: The Dark World, which fell flat for Marvel fans. Marvel knew that it needed to shake things up, and it did just that by hiring Taika Waititi to direct Thor: Ragnarok.

This was one of the best decisions that Marvel has ever made, and Thor: Ragnarok was so successful that Waititi is returning to direct the next Thor movie. Here’s a look at why Marvel fans loved Thor: Ragnarok so much that they think that Taika Waititi can do no wrong with Thor: Love and Thunder.

The Thor movies in Phase 1 and 2 of the MCU

Chris Hemsworth
Chris Hemsworth | Don Arnold/WireImage

Most of the movies in the first two phases of the MCU had to do at least one of two things. They either had to introduce a new character into the MCU, or they had to introduce a new concept or idea into the MCU.

That’s basically what the first two Thor movies did, but other than that, by and large, they were mostly unremarkable. 

Back in those days, the Thor movies didn’t have much humor to them. Thor was a very serious character and there were a lot of dramatic moments and scenes.

While some Marvel fans enjoyed those types of things, it didn’t really appeal to most audiences, as evidenced by their box office numbers. All of this changed when Marvel hired Waititi to direct the next Thor movie.

How well ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ was received 

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Waititi, who, at the time, was an indie filmmaker who made comedic movies, was an odd choice for the role. But his style of humor translated well into the movie, as many fans consider Ragnarok to be one of the funniest movies in the MCU.

Waititi was able to do that while respecting the comic book roots of Thor and the other characters who were featured in the movie. 

Thor was still serious at times, but he also cracked more jokes. Not only that, but the whole color palette of the Thor movies changed. In The Dark World, there were a lot of dark colors everywhere. But in Ragnarok, there were far more bright and vibrant colors. This changed the vibe of the Thor movies from being dark and serious to lighter and funner, and fans absolutely loved it. 

Not only did Ragnarok make more money than the other two Thor movies, but Waititi did such a good job that Marvel hired him again to direct the next Thor movie. And as a vote of confidence, fans won’t mind if Love and Thunder is just okay.

Why Marvel fans won’t care if ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ is just okay

Like a fan on Reddit said: “If this movie is half as good as Ragnarok, I will be happy.”

That’s just how confident Marvel fans are in Waititi’s abilities. It doesn’t hurt that, after directing Ragnarok, Waititi’s next movie, Jojo Rabbit, won an Oscar. On top of that, Thor’s newfound sense of humor has also carried over into Infinity War and Endgame, and Marvel fans generally loved how Thor was portrayed in those movies.

In addition to that though, like Marvel fans on Reddit said, with the COVID-19 pandemic delaying so many movies, Marvel fans are just excited to see anything nowadays. Right now, the next MCU movie, Black Widow, won’t be coming until 2021, so the only new Marvel content in 2020 will be WandaVision.

Due to that, many Marvel fans are just hungry for anything MCU related, and they will enjoy whatever Marvel eventually puts out.