Thor: Ragnarok director wants to make Thor ‘awesome’

Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi told Polygon in July that he wanted to make Marvel’s biggest movie, adding that it was going to be totally different from what fans were used to seeing. In an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit, Watiti has narrowed down that definition a little more.

One of the biggest takeaways from the AMA was Waititi’s aversion to the previous Thor movies. In multiple replies, Waititi said that he wanted to spruce up Thor’s character and as such was ignoring previous iterations of the character.

“I made an effort to ignore the fact there are other Thor films,” Waititi said in response to a question about trying to keep similar elements in the movie or making it more unique.

Another user commented that next to Loki, Thor looked rather bland and void of any real personality, to which Waititi responded that “Thor is awesome now.” One of the biggest concerns Waititi had going into the movie was the creative freedom he’d have with the movie. In his interview with Polygon, the director said the he felt like “a guest in Marvel’s universe but with the creative freedom to do what I want.”

Waititi elaborated on that in the AMA, and said that he wanted to make sure that Thor was the most important character in his own film. While Waititi was involved early on in the storyline process, Marvel also brought in its own writing team to help finish the script. Still, Waititi said the overall tone of the film is entirely his, and he made sure to use all of Chris Hemsworth’s comedic acting chops in the movie.

Waititi said that fans can expect a more ‘80s, retro vibe to the movie, adding that it has a “crazy” and different tone than anything else in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While the director has nothing but respect for the universe, and understands that Thor: Ragnarok will help set up Avengers: Infinity War, the third Thor installment will be able to stand on its own as a separate film even within the massive world that Marvel has crafted. Of the films that have been released thus far by Marvel, however, Guardians of the Galaxy is his favorite.

Waititi also touched upon the popular short video that Marvel released a couple of weeks ago featuring Thor and his new Australian roommate, Daryl. The director said that it was partly his idea to do the short and would absolutely love to continue doing more of them with other Avengers characters.

Thor: Ragnarok will hit theaters Nov. 3, 2017.