Although Thor: Love and Thunder had a strong showing at the box office, it had critics split and is fueling fan discussions on why the movie's packed story didn't feel more cohesive. In a recent episode of the House of R podcast from The Ringer, co-host Joanna Robinson says director Taika Waititi had a "mandate" from Marvel to "bring this movie in under two hours."

　　"Taika having a blank check on this is absolutely not the case," said Robinson. "He got more leeway than he got with Ragnarok, but there was a mandate to bring this movie in under two hours. This comes in under two hours and they cut a ton of stuff out of this movie."

　　While Robinson does not offer further information on who issued this mandate and why, it is true that shortly before the release of Thor: Love and Thunder, news came out that a bunch of notable cameos went missing. Jeff Goldblum and Peter Dinklage were to reprise their roles as the Grandmaster and Eitri, King of the Dwarves. Additionally, there was going to be a new character portrayed by Game of Thrones' Lena Headey.

　　In an interview, Waititi said these characters didn't make it into the final cut just in the natural course of editing: "I wrote the thing, so when you cut anything it's a little bit of a challenge… A scene on its own could be the funniest thing or most intriguing thing, but sometimes those things if you keep them in will just make the movie screech to a halt. So you have to do what's best for the film."

　　Waititi added, "If you ask any of those actors who were cut out, they all understand how it works. They have been in the game long enough."

　　Earlier this month, Waititi quashed the growing hopes gaining momentum around a burgeoning #ReleaseTheWaititiCut campaign pushing for a director's cut version of Thor: Love And Thunder. Waititi said that it isn't worth giving a second thought, because "director's cuts are not good."

　　During the film's press tour, many of Thor's stars made reference to a 4.5 hour-long cut of the movie that existed early on--and it's anyone's guess whether all those other cameos and missing connective tissue vocal fans are crying out for exists in that longer cut. For what it's worth, the final cut in theaters now is 119 minutes, and it remains to be seen what deleted scenes may end up on the home release.

　　Thor: Love And Thunder - 17 Easter Eggs And References You May Have Missed

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