Taika Waititi Plans To Use Chris Hemsworth's Comedic Skills In Thor: Ragnarok

When Taika Waititi was confirmed as the director for Thor: Ragnarok, plenty of fans did a double-take and asked, "Who's that?" The New Zealand native, who's best known for his indie projects, has proven himself as a formidable talent with his works garnering critical acclaim and even having earned Academy Award nomination. And, with Thor: Ragnarok filming set to shoot soon, the once hesitant director is now ready to start filming and prepared to coax out Chris Hemsworth's dazzling comedic talent.

Speaking with IndieWire, Waititi said he's excited to feature the Australian actor's solid comedic timing as Hemsworth has shown his jokes while hosting Saturday Night Live and co-starring in the upcoming Ghostbusters reboot. The director said, "It's silly not to use that [Chris' comedy]. He's so good."

Seeing Chris inject some lively humor into Thor: Ragnarok might set a better tone than the more serious Thor: The Dark World created with its release. Waititi seems confident, though, that his film will strike a nice balance between action and humor.

Though Waititi did confess he was initially hesitant to helm the project, he's now ready to tackle the challenges that come with making a studio film. Talking about his change of heart, he said his concern over the film was complicated. He didn't want it to, "interrupt all the other things I want to do, part of it was just the idea of it. I'm a little bit of a control freak and I like to kind of control everything, and certainly on a studio film that's not the case. Once I got over that, I realized this is actually going to be a really cool exercise in directing and making a big film. And why not? It's such a great opportunity to experience what it's like."

Ready to face the job head-on, Waititi said he wants create a fun atmosphere for the film. Noting that all of his films have a fine balance between action and comedy, Waititi also wants to showcase Thor's emotional core as well. "As much as I love action and spectacle, I think my strength and what I'm really interested in mostly is character. It's a hard balance, because you've still got to blow shit up," he said.

Well, isn't that the truth? However, with Waititi having already proven his directing chops in previous projects, fans have little doubt that the he's set to make another great installment for Marvel's Cinematic Universe.

Thor: Ragnarok is scheduled to hit theaters on November 3, 2017.