Thor: Ragnarok Finds Director
Marvel Studios has made its choice for director of Thor: Ragnarok, and it's Taika Waititi, a director from Flight of the Conchords.
Marvel Studios has located its choice for director of the third Thor film, and it’s very about the direction of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Indeed, it was reported Friday that Taika Waititi is in talks with Marvel to be the Thor: Ragnarok director.
According to The Wrap, Waititi beat out Zombieland’s Ruben Fleischer for the Ragnarok gig. It likely is in no small part thanks to Waititi coming off a very subversive and clever vampire comedy from last year, What We Do in the Shadows.
Waititi is a New Zealand filmmaker that made hay in the indie world for his satirical comedy about the banality of eternal life among three undead buddies. However, he is probably best known to American audiences for directing four episodes of Flight of the Conchords. He has also directed episodes for Super City and The Inbetweeners. Fans might also know him as playing a small role as the character “Tom” in 2011’s Green Lantern.
Intriguingly, Waititi represents what appears to be a growing confidence in Marvel’s direction of plucking outside-the-box choices from television or extremely independent cinema and bringing them into the fold on a pre-existing project. Just following the trio of Thor directors is quite telling: going from the very distinct style of Kenneth Branagh for Thor to Alan Taylor, who had directed several films but was most known for directing episodes of HBO prestige projects (Rome, Game of Thrones, The Sopranos) to a director of micro-budgeted comedy films and subversive TV series.
We wish the best of luck to Taika Waititi and hope that Thor: Ragnarok may finally explain what that Asgardian jacuzzi in Avengers: Age of Ultron really meant.