Thor: Ragnarok Director Taika Waititi Says He ‘Had No Interest’ in Making Movie: Had to ‘Feed These Children’

Taika Waititi reflects on his decision to direct Thor: Ragnarok for Marvel Studios.

Waititi, 48, appeared in the final episode SmartLess podcast, where he spoke with co-hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett about his career. Waititi first made a name for himself making independent films and television in his native New Zealand. He then teamed up with Chris Hemsworth for Ragnarokthe third film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Thor franchise.

“You know what, I wasn’t interested in doing one of those movies,” Waititi said. “It wasn’t in my plan for my career as an author. But I was poor and I had just had my second child. I thought, ‘You know what, this would be a great opportunity to feed these kids.’ ”

“They called and said ‘do you want to do it?’ AND Thor – let’s face it, he probably was [Marvel’s] least popular franchise. I never read Thor comics when I was a kid,” he added. “I did some research on it and I read one whole comic, all 18 pages or however long they were. I was still confused by this character.”

Timeline of Rita Ora and Taiko Waititi’s relationship

Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth in the movie ‘Thor: Ragnarok’.

J Boland/Marvel Studios/Kobal/Shutterstock

Waititi has two daughters, Te Kāinga o te Hinekāh, 11, and Matewa Kiritapa, 7, with his ex-wife Chelsea Wistanley. The couple broke up in 2018, and Waititi began dating his now-wife Rita Ora in 2021. In August 2022, a source told PEOPLE that he and Ora, 33, tied the knot.

Waititi said he found his opinion of Hemsworth’s Thor by “looking at him [like] he’s this billionaire who lives in space and looks ridiculous. That was some in.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

(L-R) Tom Hiddleston, Chris Hemsworth, Taika Waititi and Jeff Goldblum on the set of ‘Thor: Ragnarok’.

Marvel/Disney/Kobal/Shutterstock

Hemsworth, 40, has worked with three different directors Thor (2011), the Avengers (2012), Thor: The Dark World (2013) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) before teaming up with Waititi. The director experienced great success with Ragnarokand that film and its sequel Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) brought Marvel better returns at the box office than the first two films in the series.

“I don’t think there was anywhere else to go with that thing… I thought, ‘Well, if they invited me, this is really the bottom of the barrel,'” Waititi said on SmartLesswhen co-host Bateman asked if Waititi had a vision for a different path for his Thor movies initially “scared” Marvel.

Chris Hemsworth and Taika Waititi lied to Marvel about their friendship before Thor: Ragnarok

Despite Waititi’s success with Thor movies, recently confirmed to Business Insider that he “will not be involved” with any potential five Thor movie. Instead, the director is working on a script for a film under the title Incindefinite Star Wars project i Clara and the sunbased on the novel of the same name by Kazuo Ishiguro.

“I would never feel like I was being cheated,” Waititi joked about his relationship with Marvel Studios. “We’re in an open relationship, and it’s like if they want to see other people, I’m happy for that. I’d still go back to bed with them one day.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education