Director Taika Waititi.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Los Angeles: Filmmaker Taika Waititi says he had no interest in directing a Marvel movie but accepted the opportunity to helm Thor: Ragnarok for financial reasons.
Waititi was relatively an unknown name with films like What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople when he was hired by Marvel Studios to direct Ragnarok, the third film in Chris Hemsworth-led Thor series.
"You know what? 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'," the filmmaker said during his appearance in actor Jason Bateman's Smartless podcast.
Ragnarok, which followed the initial film by Kenneth Branagh in 2011 and the Alan Taylor-directed 2013 sequel Thor: The Dark World, was a huge hit and earned over $853 million at the worldwide box office.
The Oscar winner said as a child, he didn't like Marvel's Thor comic books and he didn't know what to do with the character.
"And Thor, let's face it — it was probably the least popular franchise. I never read Thor comics as a kid. That was the comic I'd pick up and be like 'Ugh. And then I did some research on it, and I read one 'Thor' comic or 18 pages, or however long they are,' Waititi added.
Post Ragnarok, Waititi directed 2019's Jojo Rabbit, for which he won the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay. He also directed the fourth Thor movie, titled Love and Thunder.
He is currently awaiting the release of his latest feature, Next Goal Wins, starring Michael Fassbender.