Marvel Exec Recalls Taika Waititi's Extreme Thor: Love & Thunder Ideas

Marvel Studios' Director of Visual Development recalls director Taika Waititi's extreme ideas for Thor: Love and Thunder. The fourth standalone Thor film overall, Love and Thunder picks up after the events of Avengers: Endgame and sees Chris Hemsworth's titular hero face off against a new villain in the form of Christian Bale's Gorr the God Butcher. In addition to Hemsworth, the latest Thor adventure also sees the return of Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie and Natalie Portman's Jane Foster, who has now taken up the mantle of Mighty Thor.

Thor: Love and Thunder received somewhat mixed reviews compared to other MCU releases, with some critics and fans taking issue with the film's tone and humor. The movie marked Waititi's second venture in the MCU after 2017's Thor: Ragnarok, which received overwhelmingly positive reviews. Outside the MCU, Waititi is well known for directing films like What We Do in the Shadows, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and 2019's JoJo Rabbit. Although Thor: Love and Thunder was a success at the box office, it's unclear if Waititi will return to once again bring his unique sense of humor to a fifth Thor film.

In a new interview with SyFy, Marvel Studio's Director of Visual Development, Andy Park, recalls his experience working with Waititi on Thor: Love and Thunder and the director's "extreme" ideas. Park praises Waititi for constantly wanting to push the envelope but says that there were certain ideas that he was a little hesitant about. Ultimately, Park explains, even when Waititi's more out-there ideas weren't used, they usually led to some interesting places that weren't quite as extreme. Check out Park's full comment below:

"It was really fun to get back into the Thor world with Taika because I know when I work with him, I'm in for a ride. He’s so much fun. He's constantly joking around and he's really just entertaining [Laughs]. But his ideas are very extreme and out there. He's not scared to try something. There might be times when we're scared [and say] 'Ahhh, I don't know…that might be a little too far design-wise.' So he'll like push us to be like, 'Hey, let's go there.' Whether that becomes the design or we pivot back a little bit, we wouldn't have found this pivot without going to the extreme. That’s Taika pretty much in a nutshell."

How Taika Waititi Changed Thor In The MCU

Thor smiling while holding Stormbreaker in Thor: Love and Thunder.

Although not all of Waititi's "extreme" decisions in Thor: Love and Thunder sat well with audiences, the director's involvement in the MCU had a significant effect on the portrayal of Hemsworth's Thor. When the Norse god was first introduced in 2011's Thor, the character was exceedingly self-serious and largely lacking a sense of humor compared to other characters in the MCU like Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man. Thor's second outing, Thor: The Dark World, was not received well by critics or fans, suggesting that the character could benefit from something of a re-work.

That re-work came in the form of Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok, which traded the dark and brooding Thor for one that was genuinely funny and more lighthearted. As Park alludes to, Waititi's vision not just for the character of Thor, but for the entire atmosphere of a Thor film is one dominated by seemingly "out-there" decisions, vibrant colors, and quirky humor. While Waititi's somewhat unconventional approach didn't work quite as well for some fans in Thor: Love and Thunder as it did in Thor: Ragnarok, the director evidently made the character and the world he inhabits feel fresh and entirely unique in the broader sense of the MCU.

Source: SyFy