Thor: Ragnarok Director Taika Waititi Working on Secret Project Before Love and Thunder

Marvel Studios and Taika Waititi shocked fans around the world when it was announced that the acclaimed Thor: Ragnarok director would be stepping away from his planned adaptation of Akira at Warner Bros. in order to focus all of his efforts on bringing another Thor film to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Waititi is getting the gang back together for Thor: Love and Thunder, set to release in 2021, but it looks as though the filmmaker is squeezing in a secret project between now and then.

According to a new report from Variety, Waititi is writing and directing a movie for Fox Searchlight (owned my Marvel parent Disney) before beginning pre-production on Thor: Love and Thunder.

This makes Waititi's schedule incredibly packed over the next couple of years, as Thor 4 will need to start filming in 2020 in order to have everything completed in time for its release date. The report suggests that Waititi was already planning to film this mystery project in the fall, following the release of his newest movie, Jojo Rabbit. Fox Searchlight's Garret Basch worked "aggressively" to secure the rights to the upcoming film ahead of its production.

Waititi has already established a good relationship with Fox Searchlight, having teamed with the studio for Jojo Rabbit, an anti-hate satire about a young boy in World War II-era Germany. Waititi plays the child's imaginary friend, Adolph Hitler.

Searchlight is clearly high on the new movie, shifting its premiere to the fall with plans to give it a heavy push through awards season.

This mystery movie will certainly be a smaller-scale project, especially considering the small window he will have to shoot it. Production on Thor: Love and Thunder is aiming to kick off in the early part of 2020, allowing more than enough time for an extensive shoot and heavy post-production effects.

What do you think Waititi's mystery project will be about? Will it pose any problems for Thor: Love and Thunder? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Thor: Love and Thunder is set to hit theaters on November 5, 2021.