If this director takes on the new Thor, he’ll be making Marvel movie history
Of course we love Marvel movies, we’re only human, but at this point we’re not, like throwing a parade every time they announce the gazillionth Captain America or Guardians of the Galaxy Gazillion and One: Chris Pratt is Still Great At Leading A Ragtag Band of Misfits and Cranking Up the Oldies. Marvel movies are just a fact of life, they come out regularly, we pay extra for our 3D glasses, the world keeps turning
That said, we just learned that Taika Waititi is in negotiations to direct Thor: Ragnarok, and all of a sudden we’re ready to throw a parade again, because, if and when Waititi signs that contract, the Maori filmmaker will be making movie history by becoming the first person of color to direct a Marvel movie.
Look, here’s the deal, like we said, we love Marvel movies, but the company does have inclusivity issues. You look at basically any Marvel movie and it’s a white dude front and center (or in the case of Avengers, white DUDES front and center) and women and POC on the primarily on the periphery. It hasn’t been much better behind the camera. Though this summer our beloved Ava Duvernay, she of Selma greatness, was in talks to direct Black Panther, which would have made her both the first woman and the first person of color to helm a Marvel flick, eventually, she stepped aside, because she wanted to invest her time in other projects. Note that there still hasn’t been a woman director behind a Marvel film. Patty Jenkins was originally set to direct Thor 2, but ultimately exited the project, citing the Hollywoodiest of reasons,”creative differences” (no worries, fangirls, she’s directing Wonder Woman for DC, so all’s well that ends well). All that said, we’re REALLY glad to be getting some diversity behind the Marvel lens.
So let’s talk about Waititi. For the uninitiated, New Zealander Waititi broke onto the scene directing several episodes of Flight of the Conchords. He the wrote and directed Eagle vs Shark (starring Conchords star Jermaine Clement) and, with Clement, co-wrote, co-directed, and co-starred in What We Do In The Shadows (a vampire mockumentary/one of the funniest films to come out last year, run, don’t walk to watch VOD). And, Waititi already has a little bit of comic book adaptation cred, having played the character of Tom Kalmaku in 2011’s Green Lantern.
All of which is to say, we think Waititi is a king among filmmakers and we are so excited that he’s going to be bringing his talents to the Marvel world, and making history to boot!
Related:
Captain Marvel is the feminist film superhero we’ve been waiting for
We just found out Jaden Smith is going to be our next big-screen superhero
Image via Shutterstock
