Taika Waititi says that 'Thor 4' could feature Jane Foster breast cancer storyline

Taika Waititi has said that there could be scope for including a plot line about Jane Foster battling breast cancer in Thor 4.

The Kiwi director will be heading back to the Marvel universe with Thor: Love and Thunder next year, with a release plotted for 2021.

Waititi also directed Thor: Ragnarok in 2017, and will be bringing back Natalie Portman to the MCU to play scientist Foster, who first met the God of Thunder in the first Thor movie in 2011, helmed by Kenneth Branagh.

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In the comic book storyline he'll be following, Thor loses his ability to wield his hammer Mjolnir, thus losing his title.

Meanwhile, as Jane is diagnosed with cancer, a mysterious female takes up Mjolnir and the name The Mighty Thor with it.

It later transpires that Jane and this new hero are one and the same, and while her superhero form is cured, her human form still battles the disease.

“I think that's a really powerful part of the books,” Waititi told Variety.

“I think it's really cool that she's fighting this thing and there's two battles going on. Personally I really love that storyline. But whether it ends up in the film is yet to be seen.

“We’re not sure if we’re going to do a complete lift of that whole storyline. These things change through the shoot and even when we’re editing sometimes.

“Like, ‘Let’s get rid of that storyline where she’s got breast cancer. We’ll change it to something else, or maybe she’s fine.'”

Waititi is currently doing the press rounds for Jojo Rabbit, his wartime satire in which he plays the imaginary friend of a young German boy (who happens to take the form of Adolf Hitler).

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The movie lands in the UK on January 3, while filming for Thor: Love and Thunder is set to begin in spring next year.

It will once again team Chris Hemsworth’s Thor with Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie, who, it's been confirmed, will be Marvel's first official LGBT superhero.

“As new king, she needs to find her queen,” Thompson told fans at Comic-Con over the summer.

“That will be her first order of business. She has some ideas. Keep you posted.”

Thor: Love and Thunder is due for release on November 5, 2021.