There are a lot of exciting titles in Marvel Studios' juggernaut franchise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, to look forward to. The franchise is in the heart of its Multiverse Saga now, with major outings such as Deadpool and Wolverine, Captain America: Brave New World and Spider-Man 4 to look forward to. As with the Infinity Saga, whatever it is that they are building towards will culminate in a larger-than-life Avengers movie.
Avengers 5 (formerly titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty) will unite the team of heroes for another major battle, and there is a lot of speculation going around in terms of what that movie could look like, specifically the roster of heroes that will make up the titular team. Now, as reported by The Direct, it appears that Marvel has confirmed at least one of those heroes, and the good news is that it will be one of the original Avengers.
Marvel teases Thor's involvement in Avengers 5
During Disney's CinemaCon presentation, there was a huge collage teasing what was to come from all of the major Disney franchises (which can be viewed here in a tweet). Naturally, Marvel Studios was spotlighted in one of the images, which placed the focus on the Avengers franchise. The image chosen to represent the saga and the upcoming Avengers 5 was one of Chris Hemsworth's God of Thunder, Thor.
This is undoubtedly good news for fans of the character, who weren't sure whether he would be involved in Avengers 5. With all of the reports and rumors about Marvel now placing the focus on a new class of Avengers, including Sam Wilson's Captain America, Shuri's Black Panther, Shang-Chi, She-Hulk, and perhaps the returning Spider-Man, it wasn't clear if any of the original line-up would be back for the next installment.
It doesn't get more original than Thor for the MCU's team of heroes. He was part of the very first roster of superheroes, co-leading the original team in 2012's The Avengers alongside Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the Incredible Hulk. The team grew in 2015 sequel Avengers: Age of Ultron before going super-sized in both Infinity War and Endgame to stop Thanos.
Thor was one of the few original Avengers to return for Phase Four, appearing in the franchise as recently as 2022's Thor: Love and Thunder. We knew he would return again, but it wasn't clear if he would be a part of the new Avengers line-up, especially as the fact that he is a Space God who isn't always on Earth can easily be used to write him out of various films (he was absent from the impromptu Avengers reunion/divorce in Captain America: Civil War). This appears to confirm that he will be involved in Avengers 5, which honestly is the right choice.
The God of Thunder's return to the MCU will go beyond Thor 5
The reason that everyone expected Thor to return to the franchise one way or another was down to the fact that Marvel outright told us. On the end credits of Thor: Love and Thunder, we were told that "Thor will return" to the MCU at some point, and given that these same credits also featured a scene to set up the fifth Thor movie, most expected that to be when he made his comeback.
While Marvel Studios has yet to officially announce Thor 5, it is reportedly happening, with even Chris Hemsworth himself recently commenting on how he feels that they "owe it to the fans" after the mixed response to the somewhat over-the-top fourth movie. There have been reports since that suggest the film series will be leaving its silly days behind to go back to basics with a more mythical adventure worthy of the God of Thunder that could bring his story to a close.
The Multiverse Saga has leaned heavily on new heroes to mixed results. While the idea of introducing new heroes to be part of the eventual Avengers team up makes total sense, the execution of it has left something to be desired, with the few long-standing heroes getting a bit lost in the shuffle. Thor isn't treated with the same main event-level quality that he once was, so hopefully Thor 5 and a return in Avengers 5 can elevate the character, and the franchise, back to where they need to be.
We don't know how many more times the God of Thunder will show up in the MCU, so we want to make the most of him while he's still there. A return in Avengers 5 can hopefully allow us to do just that.