Taika Waititi and Chris Hemsworth as Thor in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’.Photo:Roy Rochlin/Getty; J Boland/Marvel Studios/Kobal/Shutterstock
Roy Rochlin/Getty; J Boland/Marvel Studios/Kobal/Shutterstock
Taika Waititiis reflecting on his decision to directThor: Ragnarokfor Marvel Studios.
Waititi, 48, appeared on the latest episode of theSmartLesspodcast, where he spoke with co-hostsJason Bateman,Sean Hayes, andWill Arnettabout his career. Waititi initially made a name for himself making independent films and television in New Zealand, his home country. He then teamed up withChris HemsworthforRagnarok, the third film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’sThorfranchise.
“You know what, I had no interest in doing one of those filmsma,” Waititi said. “It wasn’t on my plan for my career as an auteur. But I was poor and I’d just had a second child. I thought, ‘You know what, this would be a great opportunity to feed these children.' ”
Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’.J Boland/Marvel Studios/Kobal/Shutterstock
J Boland/Marvel Studios/Kobal/Shutterstock
Waititi shares two daughters, Te Kāinga o te Hinekāhu, 11, and Matewa Kiritapu, 7, with his ex wife Chelsea Wistanley. The pair broke up in 2018, and Waititibegan dating his now-wifeRita Orain 2021. In August 2022, a source told PEOPLE that he and Ora, 33, hadtied the knot.
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(L-R) Tom Hiddleston, Chris Hemsworth, Taika Waititi and Jeff Goldblum on the set of ‘Thor: Ragnarok’.Marvel/Disney/Kobal/Shutterstock
Marvel/Disney/Kobal/Shutterstock
Hemsworth, 40, had worked with three different directors betweenThor(2011),The Avengers(2012),Thor: The Dark World(2013) andAvengers: Age of Ultron(2015) before teaming up with Waititi. The filmmaker experienced major success withRagnarok, and both that film and its sequelThor: Love and Thunder(2022) brought Marvel betterbox office returnsthan the series' first two films.
“I think there was no place left to go with that thing… I thought, ‘Well, if they called me, this is really the bottom of the barrel,’ " Waititi said onSmartLess, when cohost Bateman asked whether Waititi’s vision for a different path for hisThormovies initially “scared” Marvel.
“I would never feel like they are cheating on me,” Waititi jokingly told the outlet of his relationship with Marvel Studios. “We’re in an open relationship, and it’s like if they want to see other people, I’m happy for that. I’d still get back into bed with them one day.”
source: people.com
