Taika Waititi Directed ‘Thor: Ragnorak Only Because He Was “Poor”

Taika Waititi revealed the unexpected journey into the Marvel Cinematic Universe during a chat on the ‘Smartless’ podcast. Known for his indie gems like ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’ and ‘What We Do in the Shadows,’ Waititi confessed that tackling a ‘Thor’ movie wasn’t initially on his radar.

The director revealed, “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.’”

‘Thor,’ according to Taika Waititi, was sitting at the bottom of the popularity barrel in the MCU. The director admitted to never flipping through ‘Thor’ comics in his youth, recalling his reaction as a kid, saying, “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. I was still baffled by this character.”

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When questioned about Marvel’s approach, Waititi humorously replied, “I think there was no place left for them to go with that. I thought, ‘Well, they’ve called me in, this is really the bottom of the barrel.’”

Despite his initial hesitation, Waititi not only directed ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ but also continued his unique touch with ‘Thor: Love and Thunder,’ injecting a comical tone into the franchise. The director, however, clarified that he won’t be taking the helm for a potential fifth ‘Thor’ film due to a busy schedule filled with projects like ‘The Incal’ adaptation, a ‘Star Wars’ movie, and the adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s ‘Klara And The Sun.’

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So, it seems Thor’s future adventures won’t have Waititi at the directorial helm, but the Marvel universe is still buzzing with excitement.