After directing two MCU Thor films, Taika Waititi admits to thinking it was the “least popular” franchise. He added that he only directed the Thor movies because of the money.
With Thor: Love and Thunder Having underperformed both critically and commercially, fans pointed to director Taika Waititi leaning too much into the comedy. And due to the negative response to the fourth Thor movie, Marvel Studios will be going with a different director if a fifth installment is ever going to be made. Speaking with Business Insider, Waititi stated “I know that I won’t be involved” and that he would be focusing on other movies he is set to write and direct (including a Star Wars feature film).
But Taika Waititi added some ‘tea’ to the details. In a later interview with Variety, Waititi said “I had no interest in doing one of those films. But I was poor”. He goes further to share that he just had his second child at the time and doing a Marvel Cinematic Universe film would be “a great opportunity to feed these children”.
Furthermore, the director of Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder admitted to having a low perception of Marvel’s thunder god. In Waititi’s words, he stated:
‘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.’
Although the director said he did research on the Marvel Comics for “18 pages, or however long they are”, he was still “baffled by this character. But Marvel Studios still hired him for the job because Waititi believes there was no other direction to go, even if he feels he’s the “bottom of the barrel.
In the Marvel Comics stories, the Mighty Thor (created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby) meshed Norse mythology with the Silver Age superhero tales. The mixture of modern day sensibilities with the lofty themes from legends worked thanks to the snappy dialogue of Lee and epic artwork of Kirby.
The first Thor movie from 2011 was directed by Kenneth Branagh. Although there was some humor in it, the film took the source material more seriously and was a hit with $449.3 million. Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, and Anthony Hopkins were all on point with their characterizations of Thor, Loki, and Odin, respectively.
The sequel Thor: the Dark World (2013) directed by Alan Taylor had a darker theme to it. And while the second Thor film raked in $644.8 million, it was considered a disappointment compared to other MCU releases of the time.
This is what inevitably led to Taika Waititi being brought in for the screenplay and to direct the third Thor film. Alan Taylor chose not to return, and Marvel Studios had discussions with Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland), Rob Letterman (Shark Tale), and Rawson Marshall Thurber (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story), but ultimately went with Taika Waititi.
To land the job, Waititi did a pitch for Thor: Ragnarok that impressed Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige. The sizzle reel had the signature humor, as well as the Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin (which was included in the soundtrack and marketing of the film). Aside from the Ragnarok storyline from the comic books, Thor: Ragnarok also incorporated the World War Hulk elements, adding Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner to the cast.
Thor: Ragnarok made $854 million at the box office, making it the biggest of the Thor MCU films. Owing to this success, Waititi was invited back with the promise of giving him more freedom as writer/director. And while Thor: Love and Thunder did make $760.9 million at the box office, it underperformed compared to Disney’s expectations. Moreover, fans felt it was more like a parody, despite a strong performance from Christian Bale as Gorr, the God Butcher.
With the revelation that Taika Waititi was not really interested in the MCU (and specifically Thor) beyond the money, does this tarnish the success of the franchise? Could both films have performed better under a writer and director that had more respect for the comic book source material? And who would be an ideal director for Thor 5?
