One of the big questions facing Taika Waititi’s upcoming Marvel sequel “Thor: Love and Thunder” is whether or not Thor will maintain his weight gain as seen in “Avengers: Endgame.” Thor’s larger appearance (widely dubbed “Fat Thor” online) was one of the big surprises in “Endgame,” but it didn’t come without a bit of controversy. Some fans accused “Endgame” of being fat-phobic for the way it continually used Thor’s weight gain as a punchline for jokes. In an interview with Yahoo while promoting “Jojo Rabbit,” Waititi said his “Thor: Love and Thunder” script is completed but it’s not finalized whether Thor will appear as he did in “Endgame” or return to his more muscular physique.

“This is an ongoing debate that we’re still having at Marvel,” Waititi said. “‘Cause we’re trying to figure out how long — how many months or years — this is after ‘Endgame,’ at what point does this take place?

Hemsworth briefly told Variety after the release of “Endgame” that he liked playing a heavier-set superhero. “I enjoyed that version of Thor,” the actor said. “It was so different than any other way I played the character. And then it took on a life of its own.”

“Avengers: Endgame” screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have defended Thor’s weight gain. “Thor had been on a mission of vengeance in the last movie, so we couldn’t put him on that,” Markus told Vulture in May. “What is the end result of a guy who has lost so much and just blatantly failed? We wondered, ‘Okay, well, what if he does become a sort of depressive alcoholic?’ And the weight gain was just part and parcel of that state of mind.”

The screenwriters mentioned that by leaving Thor “in that state” at the end of the movie, the film was saying the character’s size was inconsequential to the completion of his emotional arc. “He’s emotionally resolved. We fix his problem, and it’s not his weight,” Markus said. “I know some people are sensitive about some of the humor that comes from it, which I understand. But our issue that we wanted him to deal with was his emotional state that his mom addresses. And I think he is the ideal Thor at the end of the movie, and he’s carrying some weight.”

According to Waititi, the decision of whether or not a larger Thor will appear in “Love and Thunder” comes down to how far the script is set after “Endgame.” Hemsworth is reprising his superhero character opposite returning MCU favorites Natalie Portman and Tessa Thompson. Disney has already announced a November 5, 2021 release date for the movie.

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