Taika Waititi has done a lot of things in his life, and as one would assume, not all of them have been great. The one thing that a lot of people would undisputedly agree he has messed up with happens to be the Thor film series.
To be frank, it is undeniable that he started strong with Thor: Ragnarok, but all the good he did was shadowed by the tornado of criticism he received for fumbling the next movie, Thor: Love and Thunder. The worst part is probably that he proved some people right after momentarily making their predictions sound false. However, when those predictions were made, he had a very strong stance on what he had to offer.
Taika Waititi’s Response to Fans Predicting He’d Ruin the Thor Film Series
Taika Waititi began making films in the early 2000s and his 2005 short film, Two Cars, One Night was even nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short. He made his debut as a feature film director with the movie Eagle vs. Shark, which he also co-wrote.
Over the years, he has done quite some applaudable work, but his international breakthrough came in 2013 with What We Do in the Shadows, a mockumentary about vampire roommates. His first major studio film turned out to be Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok, which is the third film in that series.
When the announcement of his directing the movie was made, people were not quite sure how it would go. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, he claimed that he was aware of the online criticism he was getting, and also had a suitable comeback for it.
They said, ‘This guy’s gonna ruin this. He’s gonna ruin Thor! It’s like, ‘What, you mean again?’ And they were like, ‘He’s gonna ruin this for everyone, Thor’s so cool!’ And I said to them on Twitter — before I left Twitter — I said, ‘You don’t know what you want until I give it to you.’
To put it simply, Waititi did not believe that the god of thunder’s reputation could be any worse since fans considered Thor: The Dark World the least successful of all movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe at the time. Luckily, the movie he made turned out to be a hit among fans and critics alike. However, the same cannot be said about the sequel. So, Thor was indeed ruined, just not when fans were expecting it to be.
Taika Waititi Never Wanted to Make a Marvel Movie in the First Place
Life does not always go as planned. In fact, to be fair, life barely ever goes as planned. For some, it turns out better than they had hoped for while for others, it is worse. Directing a Marvel movie was not anywhere on Waititi’s plans, but he did it anyway because he had to.
In an interview on the SmartLess podcast, he told hosts Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Sean Hayes, that he never even wanted to be associated with the superhero franchise to begin with. He explained:
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.
According to Box Office Mojo, Thor: Ragnarok had a global collection of almost $854 million and has a critics’ score of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. For someone who did not want to make a superhero movie, he evidently did a great job. This, however, doesn’t negate how he fumbled the next movie.
Thor: Ragnarok is available for streaming on Disney+.
\nFrequently asked questions
\nWhat did Taika Waititi say to fans who blamed him for ruining Thor?
After his hiring drew online backlash from fans who feared he would damage the franchise, Waititi pushed back with the line, “You don’t know what you want until I give it to you.” He posted the remark on Twitter (before later stepping away from the platform), and in interviews he recalled fans warning, “This guy’s gonna ruin Thor!”
\nDid Taika Waititi actually want to direct a Thor movie?
By his own account on the SmartLess podcast, no. Waititi said directing a superhero film was never part of his plan as a filmmaker, explaining he took the job largely for financial reasons after having a second child, framing it as a way to support his young family rather than a long-held ambition.
Which Thor films did Taika Waititi direct, and how were they received?
Waititi directed Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) for Marvel Studios, both starring Chris Hemsworth. Ragnarok was a major hit, grossing roughly $854 million worldwide and holding about a 93% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, while Love and Thunder drew more mixed reviews and a cooler reception by comparison.
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