Taika Waititi Says ‘Thor’ Wasn’t in His Plans as ‘an Auteur,’ Took Job Because He Was ‘Poor’
Taika Waititi is admitting that he had “no interest” in joining the MCU before directing “Thor: Ragnarok.”
The “Next Goal Wins” helmer said during the “Smartless” podcast that he only accepted writing a “Thor” Marvel project because he was “poor” and needed to feed his two children. In short, Marvel wasn’t part of Oscar-winning “Jojo Rabbit” director Waitit’s “plan” to be viewed as an auteur.
More from IndieWire
“You know what? I had no interest in doing one of those films,” Waititi said. “It wasn’t on my plan for my career as an auteur. But I was poor and I’d just had a second child, and I thought, ‘You know what, this would be a great opportunity to feed these children.'”
He continued, “And ‘Thor,’ let’s face it — it was probably the least popular franchise. I never read ‘Thor’ comics as a kid. That was the comic I’d pick up and be like ‘Ugh.’ And then I did some research on it, and I read one ‘Thor’ comic or 18 pages, or however long they are.”
Waititi added that he took Marvel reaching out to him as a sign the franchise didn’t know where to go next.
“I think there was no place left for them to go with that,” Waititi said of the third “Thor” movie. “I thought, ‘Well, they’ve called me in, this is really the bottom of the barrel.”
Waititi went on to write and direct “Thor: Love and Thunder,” but recently told Insider that he most likely will not be involved in a fifth “Thor” movie.
“I know that I won’t be involved. I’m going to concentrate on these other films that I’ve signed on for,” Waititi said, citing a “Klara and the Sun” adaptation and his upcoming “Star Wars” installment. “So that’s six, seven years gone. I’d imagine another ‘Thor’ would be a lot sooner than that.”
He added, “But I love Marvel, I love working with them. I love Chris [Hemsworth]. We’re in an open relationship and it’s like, if they want to see other people I’m happy for that. I’d still get back into bed with them one day.”
Actor Hemsworth who plays Thor noted in 2022 that any new “Thor” installment would most likely have to “close the book” on the character, telling Vanity Fair, “I feel like it’d probably be the finale, but that’s not based on anything anyone’s told me or any sort of plans.”
Best of IndieWire
Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Solve the daily Crossword
