Taika Waititi Says He Just Did Thor Movies Because He Was Poor

While director Taika Waititi found success helming Marvel’s Thor movies, he admits the only reason he took the gigs was because he was “poor.” Waititi directed 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok and 2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder, arguably the two best entries in Marvel’s Thor franchise. Thor: Ragnarok injected the God of Thunder with some much-needed humor and increased stakes, and provided Waititi with an all-new audience for his works. With this in mind, it may come as a shock to find out the reason behind Waititi joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Taika Waititi was a guest on the Smartless podcast, where he revealed that he took on the writing job for Thor: Ragnarok because he needed the money to feed his growing family. “You know what? I had no interest in doing one of those films,” 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, and I thought, ‘You know what, this would be a great opportunity to feed these children.’”

He added, “And Thor, let’s face it — it was probably the least popular franchise. I never read Thor comics as a kid. That was the comic I’d pick up and be like ‘Ugh.’ And then I did some research on it, and I read one Thor comic or 18 pages, or however long they are.”

Waititi also said that he took Marvel Studios reaching out to him as a sign that the studio had no idea what to do with Chris Hemsworth’s character. “I think there was no place left for them to go with that,” the director said. “I thought, ‘Well, they’ve called me in, this is really the bottom of the barrel.’”

Taika Waititi not directing Thor 5

It’s looking like Taika Waititi won’t be involved with a fifth Thor movie. Waititi’s dance card is pretty stacked lately, with the director working on a Star Wars film, among other projects. Of course, the topic of him directing another Thor installment always comes up, a subject he’s never shied away from. However, Waititi recently confirmed he won’t be behind the camera for Thor 5.

“I know that I won’t be involved…I’m going to concentrate on these other films that I’ve signed on for,” Waititi told Business Insider earlier this month. “…So that’s six, seven years gone. I’d imagine another ‘Thor’ would be a lot sooner than that…But I love Marvel, I love working with them. I love Chris.

“I would never feel like they are cheating on me,” Waititi continued, as he praised Marvel with some humor. “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.”

Photo credit David M. Benett/Dave Benett/WireImage via Getty