Marvel Studios has chosen their Thor: Ragnarok director whose most recent film was a vampire comedy spoof.
As first reported on Friday by The Wrap, Flight of the Conchords director Taika Waititi is currently negotiating with the studio to direct Thor 3. This means that Marvel has chosen their guy, who reportedly beat out Ruben Fleischer as the other finalist, and are simply working out the financial terms.
Waititi is coming off the wonderful vampire spoof What We Do in the Shadows and has a resume rife with comedic entertainment. He’s as odd a choice to helm Thor: Ragnarok as Kenneth Branagh was for Thor and TV director Alan Taylor was for Thor: The Dark World.
Marvel has had great success thinking outside the box when it comes to selecting the talent to steer their tentpole superhero films. Joe and Anthony Russo, who were comedy directors before tackling Captain America: The Winter Soldier, did such a great job that they directed Captain America: Civil War as well as Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1 and Part 2.
Confirmed to return for Thor: Ragnarok are Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tom Hiddleston as Loki and Jaimie Alexander as Lady Sif. It’s hard to imagine another Thor film without Anthony Hopkins as Odin or Idris Elba as Heimdall. As of now neither are confirmed to reprise their roles.
Thor: Ragnarok is part of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe Phase 3 and has a locked down July 28, 2017 release date.
