The Mandalorian’s Taika Waititi on Whether or Not He’d Direct a Star Wars Movie

After transforming the world of the God of Thunder into the funniest film series within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi had a chance to take his talents to a galaxy far, far away. Waititi was cast as the assassin droid-turned-hero IG-11 in the first season of Star Wars: The Mandalorian, and was also brought on by creator Jon Favreau to direct the ever-important season finale. As many expected, Waititi knocked his episode out of the park, bringing home the critically-acclaimed first season of The Mandalorian to rave reviews, with many calling the finale the best episode of the show to-date. Fans are already wondering when Waititi, as well as fellow Mandalorian helmer Deborah Chow, will make the move to a Star Wars feature film.

The next Star Wars movie isn’t set to hit theaters until the end of 2022, with two more films arriving in 2024 and 2026. Could Waititi end up attached to one of those movies, or even another project that has yet to be announced? While speaking to Variety, Waititi said that he currently doesn’t have any plans to direct a Star Wars movie, but that he’d absolutely be down to do so if Lucasfilm came knocking.

“Oh, I don’t know anything about that, but Mandalorian was my chance to work with some stormtroopers,” Waititi began. “Yes. Obviously I would, but I’m going to just settle for IG-11 being the hero of the entire season.”

While Variety’s conversation with Waititi eventually turned toward the universe of Star Wars that he had a chance to take part in this past year, the reason behind the interview had to do with a different film entirely. The Oscar nominations were announced on Monday morning and Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit received a total of six nods, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.

“I wrote the first draft of this in 2011 and the s— wasn’t so bad back then. I wrote this more as response to research I was doing on the Bosnian War and what kids were going through. Apart from Tin Drum; and a couple of other films we haven’t seen what kids have gone through in war time, in any war, really. My initial response was me writing that script. Then cut to seven years later and we made this film and it became a little bit more relevant and I’m really glad that we waited because I think the film has become more important now.”

For now, Waititi will be sticking with the Marvel Studios side of Disney blockbusters. Thor: Love and Thunder, which he is writing and directing, will begin production later this year with a release date set for November 5, 2021.