Poor Thor. It seems the only time he’ll ever have the same director more than once is when he hangs out with his friends. When he’s going solo, it’s a different person behind the camera every time and it’s never someone you’d expect.
The first film was directed by Kenneth Brannah, best known for his Shakespeare adaptations (and for playing one of my favorite Harry Potter characters), while TV director Alan Taylor took over for the second. That pattern of odd choices continues with the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok.
According to The Wrap, Taika Waititi is in negotiations to tell the God of Thunder what to do next. Waititi is mainly known for his comedy work – episodes of Flight of the Conchords and The Inbetweeners, Eagle vs Shark and What We Do in the Shadows (one of my favorite films of last year). He’s not exactly a big action guy is what I’m saying.
To be fair though, Marvel has had very good luck with comedy directors – Jon Favreau on Iron Man, the Russo brothers on Cap 2, Peyton Reed on Ant-Man – in fact accomplished action director Louis Leterrier was responsible for The Incredible Hulk, arguably the weakest MCU film.
It’s worth pointing out two interesting bits of trivia about Waititi getting this job. This isn’t his first time dealing with superheroes, as he played Hal’s buddy in Green Lantern. And crazily, after 22 MCU films either released or announced he’s the first not white person to direct one. That’s a bit sad.
