Thor: Ragnarok is often considered the best of the Thor movies, as it took what was once a stiff character and lightened him up, thanks to Taika Waititi's writing and direction. Waititi brought his irreverent humor and charm to the project, however, according to /Film, Waititi came close to never having the opportunity to pitch his concept for the project. According to a new book, The Story of Marvel Studios, authors Terry Bennett and Paul Terry describe how Waititi nearly lost the job and how Disney’s Moana helped secure the job for him.
Waititi was on a shortlist of directors to take on the next film in the franchise, having even secured a blessing from Marvel producer Brad Winderbaum. However, there was a small window of opportunity for Kevin Feige to select a director, leaving Waititi only one specific day to meet and pitch his concept to the Marvel Studio’s head. According to the book, Waititi was in Hawaii celebrating his birthday and was set to fly to LA and meet with Feige. However, Waititi realized that his passport was in his luggage that was being sent back to his native land of New Zealand. Waititi saw his opportunity slipping away.
Frantically, he looked through his luggage to find anything that he could use for identification and found a letter from the Walt Disney Company sent to him regarding his work on Moana (for which he wrote the first draft of the script). With a little bit of charm, luck, and a good explanation, Waititi explained that his passport was somewhere over the Pacific, but hoped this letter would do. Much to his surprise, the letter worked as the TSA agents who spoke with him loved Moana and, with pleasure, corroborated his story.
Thankfully, and to the rejoice of Thor fans, Waititi did meet with Fiege and pitched him a sizzle reel full of clips from some of Waititi’s favorite movies including Big Trouble in Little China, Superman: The Movie, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The reel, set to Led Zepplin’s "Immigrant Song," gave the Marvel boss a feel for the tone the film would take while concentrating on the emotional core of the Nordic apocalypse mythos. While audiences will thank Waititi for painting Thor with a different brush, they really should be thanking the young Hawaiian princess who is likely saying, "What can I say, but you're welcome?"
Waititi's next Thor film, Thor: Love and Thunder, is set to be released on July 8, 2022.