Taika Waititi is admitting what a lot of Marvel directors fail to confess in interviews: he took the job of directing his ‘Thor’ movies because he needed the money.
The “Jojo Rabbit” director was interviewed on the “Smartless” podcast (via IndieWire) and stated that he only accepted writing a “Thor” movie because he was “poor” and needed to feed his two children. He adds that, initially, Marvel was never part of his “plan” as a director.
“You know what? I had no interest in doing one of those films. 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.'”
“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.”
So, there you go. And, know what? Waititi did a fairly good job with “Thor: Ragnarok,” still one of the better and funnier of the MCU movies. He followed that one up with “Thor: Love and Thunder,” one of the worst MCU movies. You can’t win ‘em all.
A few weeks ago, Waititi confirmed that he was not returning to direct ‘Thor 5’ which is probably why he’s being more honest here. Hey, a man’s gotta live and survive. Being a director isn’t the most lucrative job, unless you get snatched up by the Disney machine.
Unlike some readers here, I have no qualms with Waititi’s humor, but I also can’t really say I’ve loved any of the films he’s made.
What’s the best Waititi movie? He’s directed eight of them, so far — critics will point to “What We Do in the Shadows” and “Hunt for the Wilderpeople” as highlights. His “Jojo Rabbit” was also nominated for Best Picture. ‘Ragnarok’ is a favorite with MCU fans. I don’t really believe any of these are great, but they all have Waititi’s imprint on them.
Of course, we all know the rule: take these reactions with a grain of salt rather than treating them as gospel. Still, I will say that the film tested like gangbusters earlier this year, and Lionsgate clearly has confidence.