Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok is receiving critical raves far ahead of its release. Clearly, the director has done something right with the Thor franchise, and seems to understand the sci-fi genre quite well.
So, what about another little-known sci-fi franchise called Star Wars? Would he be willing to tell a story in a Galaxy Far, Far Away? Talking to the New York Times about Thor: Ragnarok, Taika Waititi does share his thoughts about directing a Star Wars film, and if you are a fan, well… disappointed, you will be:
“That particular franchise seems really hard. There’s not much room for someone like me. Through its narrow canon, the tone of Star Wars has always been determinedly self-serious, whereas the Marvel movies, like the decades of comics they sprang from, veer wildly from high drama to low comedy. And improvisation has been a tool in every Marvel movie since Robert Downey Jr. riffed his way through Iron Man.”
Taikia Waititi is definitely a good fit for Marvel, and that is in no small part due to the freedom that the director was given with Thor: Ragnarok. Given Waititi’s previous work, the director obviously likes to find the humor, and absurdity in all of the drama. Something that hasn’t worked out recently with the Star Wars franchise. Honestly, one must wonder if his comments concerning the difficulty of the Star Wars franchise stem, in at least some small part, from the situation with Solo: A Star Wars Story, and original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller being ousted from the project. It seems that particular duo, and Waititi himself, share similar philosophies when it comes to directing a film.
In Marvel Studios’ “Thor: Ragnarok,” Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok—the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization—at the hands of an all-powerful threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger—the Incredible Hulk.
Thor: Ragnarok is being directed by Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows) and features Marvel veterans Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Idris Elba as Heimdall and Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk alongside Cate Blanchett as Hela, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Jeff Goldblum as the Grandmaster, Karl Urban as Skurge, Taika Waititi as Korg, Clancy Brown as Surtur, Rachel House as Topaz, Tadanobu Asano as Hogun and Sam Neill in an as-yet-unrevealed role. It is set for release on October 24th in the UK and November 3rd in the States.
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Originally published October 23, 2017. Updated December 1, 2022.
