Last night, we learned that Taikia Waititi has put
Akira back on the shelf in order to crack on with
Thor 4.
Thor: Ragnarok is widely hailed as one of the best Marvel Cinematic Universe movies to date, so it's no great surprise that Marvel Studios has called on the filmmaker for a follow-up.
It's obviously too soon for plot details to have been revealed (that could change at Comic-Con on Saturday), but we're now taking a look at ten villains from the comics we want to see in the film.
While Chris Hemsworth's God of Thunder has battled the likes of Malekith, The Grandmaster, and Hela, there are still a lot of great characters from the source material he's yet to cross paths with. Needless to say, we think you'll be surprised by some of our suggestions and any one of these bad guys would make a huge impact in the hands of Waititi.
To check out this breakdown of possible villains, simply hit the "View List" button below!
Enchantress
This is a character fans have been hoping to see on the big screen for years now, but there's a lot more to the beautiful Enchantress than just her looks. Obsessed with Thor, she's tried on multiple occasions to win him over, including the use of magic and by sending any number of villains after him.
Enchantress is also a powerful sorceress and while some comics have revolved around her feelings for the God of Thunder, there's no getting around the fact that she's incredibly smart, calculating, and willing to do whatever it takes to win his heart...and a fight.
Ulik
Ulik has never really served as a major threat to the God of Thunder but he is a character with a lot of potential. Nearly as strong as Thor, the villain is a Rock Troll and one of the most fearsome warriors in the Nine Realms; as a rival of Thor's since they were young, Waititi could easily reinvent Ulik in a similar way to how Executioner was used in
Thor: Ragnarok.
Throw in the fact that his "pounders" are forged from Uru metal and it would be a whole lot of fun seeing this guy come to blows with Thor on the big screen..
Gorr The God Butcher
Created by Jason Aaron, Gorr, the God Butcher's goal was to annihilate every God in the Universe and he came close to succeeding. During his epic clash with Thor, we were treated to a tale that spanned the hero's past, present, and distant future, and while that may be a tad complicated for a movie, there's a lot from the source material that Waititi could use in the fourth movie.
Gorr was the one who convinced Thor that he wasn't worthy to lift Mjolnir, and while he's a very dark character, there's a lot Waititi could do with him as he could easily be reinvented somewhat.
Mangog
Mangog is actually one of the Marvel Universe's most powerful villains and with the combined hatred of an entire planet leading to his creation, he's strong enough to rival even Odin.
He wants nothing more than to see Asgard and Odin's bloodline wiped completely from existence, and with only a handful of appearances under his belt, this iconic Jack Kirby creation definitely feels like a villain Waititi would gravitate towards and do some really interesting things with.
The Destroyer
Marvel Studios obviously included The Destroyer in the first Thor movie, but its role was limited and it really only felt like it was featured in the final act to give the hero someone to fight.
However, just imagine if someone managed to create a whole army of Destroyers that the God of Thunder could square off with in this sequel. It would be undeniably epic, and given how many interesting things Waititi did in Thor: Ragnarok in terms of visuals, I'm pretty sure he could reinvent these powerful robotic pawns in a way that would lead to some entertaining and memorable scenes.
Mephisto
Mephisto isn't exactly a member of Thor's "rogues gallery" but he is someone the God of Thunder has crossed paths with a number of times over the years. It's about time the Marvel Cinematic Universe's own version of the devil makes his presence felt on screen, and seeing him toy with the God of Thunder would be downright tremendous.
Waititi completely reinvented The Grandmaster, so he could easily do the same with Mephisto in a way that makes comic book fans happy while also bringing something fresh to the table.
The Wrecking Crew
The Wrecking Crew are often used as cannon fodder in the comic books, but there's something intriguing about the idea of Thor being pitted against four humans with God-like powers.
Having the hero square off with these petty criminals as they wreak havoc on Earth would lead to a far more grounded tale than we've seen in the past, but it would be no bad thing for Thor to spend at least some time here in his next movie - especially after Iron Man's death in
Avengers: Endgame.
The Serpent
Fear Itself was a pretty lame event story but there are elements which could make Thor 4 a great movie. The Asgardian God of Fear was locked away by Odin himself countless ages ago, but now that he's dead and Asgard has been destroyed, he could easily make his return to plague Thor.
His eventual transformation into a giant serpent could be a little too similar to what we saw at the start of
Thor: Ragnarok, but I definitely have faith in Waititi doing something new with him.
Ares
If Marvel Studios is indeed planning to release a Dark Avengers movie, it would be wise to introduce Ares sooner rather than later. While he's never really been a full-blown villain, Ares has come to blows with Thor in the past and could easily be introduced as a supporting character in
Thor 4.
It would be fascinating to see Thor cross paths with another God, especially if that God wanted to prove that he's actually the mightiest of them all. With Asgard destroyed, perhaps Ares will come knocking to put an end to the family who ruled over it?
Loki
Loki obviously died in
Avengers: Infinity War, but he will return in his own solo series on Disney+. With any luck, that will revolve around that villainous version of the character from
Avengers: Endgame when he managed to escape with the Tesseract. Then, if the series ends with him returning to the present day, he could easily cross paths with his brother.
The difference here would be that Loki would be unaware that they (mostly) put their differences to one side, and that could create a humorous new dynamic Waititi could take full advantage of.