Taika Waititi On How ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Changed After He Was Hired

There are some questions regarding how much of creative control directors have when it comes to Marvel Studios movies. Everyone knows Kevin Feige has a master plan for the future of the MCU, but how much leeway does that allow for the people making individual movies?

According to Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi, he had a lot of input on the film’s story when he became involved with the franchise.

While speaking with Collider, Waititi was asked about how much of the story wast set in stone when he finally signed on to helm the third Thor movie.

“There were already story ideas when I came on board, but a lot of that changed over the first three or four months,” said Waititi. “Right from the beginning, [Marvel] wanted to lighten [Thor] a little bit and embrace the adventure aspect of it. The last two films, definitely the last film, were a little darker.”

Waititi is known for making comedies as well as dramas filled with humor, so he certainly can nail those aspects.

“Personally I feel if the movie’s called Thor, then Thor should be the best character,” Waititi said. “My main focus was making him cool & funny when he needs to be and heroic when he needs to be. If you’ve seen my other films, there’s always a balance between comedy and drama. I think that’s a satisfying story to watch.”

Waititi said there’s a challenge in balancing making a personal movie in the constraints of the Marvel Studios machine, but he feels he was up to the task.

“I’m trying to unify my type of storytelling with this kind of content. Hopefully it all comes out really nicely in the end,” Waititi said. “I don’t want to make an episode of some other larger thing. It’s not my job to make sure that that this makes sense three movies down the tracks for one of the other franchises. My job is to make a film that can sit as a standalone piece, that if it’s the only Marvel film you see, it’s a great film with a great story in and of itself.”

But that doesn’t mean he’s ignoring everything that’s come before or what will happen afterward — that’s what Kevin Feige and the other producers at Marvel Studios are for.

“The lucky thing is that there’s a bunch of geniuses who run Marvel that make sure, even if it’s a standalone piece, that it’s part of a great big jigsaw puzzle that could be appreciated as a whole as well.”

Thor: Ragnarok hits theaters November 3.