Taika Waititi took iconic Marvel superhero Thor, portrayed by Chris Hemsworth in the MCU and turned him into a laughing stock. That fact is not even up for discussion. All anyone has to do is take a look at the 2017 film Thor: Ragnarok and the disastrous 2022 follow-up Thor: Love and Thunder to witness the departure from the more grounded storytelling that endeared Thor to fans in the first place. But the director doesn’t see it that way.

“That really propelled me into the nerdosphere, if you will,” Waititi told Entertainment Weekly while reflecting on Ragnarok. He then launched into a sarcasm-drenched tirade about fans, who, at the time, expressed concern about how the source material would be handled. “I was living a really lovely, peaceful life, and as soon as I did this [movie], well boy, did the nerds come for me. They said, ‘This guy’s gonna ruin this. He’s gonna ruin Thor!'” he said.

“It’s like, ‘What, you mean again?'” Waititi continued. “And they were like, ‘He’s gonna ruin this for everyone, Thor’s so cool!’ And I said to them on Twitter – before I left Twitter – I said, ‘You don’t know what you want until I give it to you.'” That’s a pretty arrogant way to approach concerns about a film that turned out to be completely accurate. While the earlier Thor films portrayed the God of Thunder with gravitas and occasional humor, Waititi leaned heavily into comedy, which destroyed it.

While Ragnarok may have received some praise for its vibrant aesthetic and lighthearted tone, by the time Love and Thunder rolled around, the formula had quickly worn thin. That’s probably why the New Zealand-born filmmaker didn’t have much of an opinion about the 2022 movie. “Look how jacked Chris got,” Waititi said, referring to the poster. “One of my favorite things about this is that I so love Natalie [Portman], also Christian Bale. I mean, it’s Christian Bale.”

But Waititi wasn’t done insulting the very people who buy the movie tickets that pay his bills. He went on to talk about Star Wars and his work on the popular Disney Plus series, The Mandalorian. “Speaking of angry nerds, Star Wars, Mandalorian,” he said. “This is what brought the nerds back. They were like, ‘Okay, you get a on this one.'” Thankfully, he only directed one episode and voiced the droid assassin IG-11. Who knows what would have happened if he stayed on for an extended time?

It’s easy to see why Waititi might be defensive about his Thor movies. The guy was dragged all over the internet after Love and Thunder was released. The social media hostility became so intense that Hemsworth attempted to take the heat off the director by blaming himself for getting “caught up in the improv and the wackiness,” which led to becoming “a parody of myself.” According to the actor, he embraced the shift toward comedy because he felt stuck in the role of Thor. The biggest takeaway from both films is, don’t try to fix something that’s not broken.

FX’s comedy horror mockumentary series What We Do in the Shadows debuted its sixth and final season on Oct. 21, and the cast is saying goodbye to the quirky and loveable characters they’ve portrayed since 2019. The show is based on the 2014 mockumentary film of the same title, created by Jermaine Clement and Taika Waititi.

The series revolves around four vampire roommates — Nandor the Relentless (Kayvan Novak), Laszlo Cravensworth (Matt Berry), Nadja of Antipaxos (Natasia Demetriou), and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) — who live in Staten Island. The colorful cast also includes Nandor’s familiar, Guillermo de la Cruz (Harvey Guillén), who is later revealed to be a descendant of Van Helsing the vampire hunter; and The Guide (Kristen Schaal).

In April 2024, a few journalists visited the What We Do in the Shadows set in Toronto to talk to the stars as they shoot episodes for the final season. During the table read, Demetriou felt a bit sad knowing it was the last time she’d do it, but said she had to power through to finish filming her scenes.

“I just love playing this character. I get to be in a comedy show that really puts being funny at the top of everything, and that, to me, is why I wanted to get into acting, to be funny,” the actress told Rotten Tomatoes. Likewise, Novak felt bittersweet about leaving the character behind. “I guess I will this fondly for the rest of my very short career,” he jokingly said. 

Writers tease how season 6 will involve murder and mayhem

At the New York Comic Con, What We Do in the Shadows showrunner Paul Simms explained the decision to end the series after season 6. “I think it’s better to go out on top, and better too soon than too late,” he said, alluding to the fact that some TV series go on for a long time, only to lose steam later and lose their audience. However, he also assured fans that season 6 will include all the things that he and the writers, Sam Johnson and Sarah Naftalis, want to do.

When talking about what they will miss most about the series, the cast agreed that they would miss portraying the kooky characters as well as working with each other the most. Guillén described the cast and crew as “just funny naturally” and praised those who worked hard behind the scenes to create amazing sets, props, and costumes that brought the series alive.

Berry also noted that acting on a mockumentary-style show is quite different as it allows him the freedom to be in control of the situation. “You can do anything and stand anywhere. You don’t get to do that on lots of other things,” he explained. Proksch agreed and said he’s going to miss having the freedom to improvise and being encouraged to do “stupid stuff.”

As for what’s in store for the final season, the writers teased that it will include “Murder. Mayhem… a lot of office stuff, which has been a blast. This is a great season. You’re all going to be very happy.” Season 6 continues where the last season ended, and viewers will also be introduced to a new character. What We Do in the Shadows season 6 premiered on Oct. 21 with three episodes. A new episode will be released weekly until the finale, which will air on Dec. 16, 2024.

Taika Waititi left his Marvel days in the past after 2022’s disastrous Thor: Love and Thunder, but with his most recent streaming reboot failing to gain traction on the charts, could the acclaimed director turn back the clock and return to helm another superhero flick?

I know what you’re thinking, “Taika Waititi has a new series on streaming?” I had the exact same thought. The series, which premiered on Apple TV Plus, is actually a reboot of the classic ’80s film Time Bandits. It’s a classic piece of ’80s nostalgia, but that only makes it all the more perplexing that the 2024 reboot somehow flew under the radar.

The show premiered in July 2024, and yet it seems most people were only made aware of it after the announcement of its cancellation in September. It had generally positive reviews and a talented team behind it, including Waititi, Jermaine Clement, and Iain Morris. Yet after just a single season, the show is out of time.

To be fair to Waititi, the blame can’t really be placed on him here, or anyone who worked on the show for that matter. It seems the issue came down to a pretty lackluster marketing campaign that led many to just straight-up miss the release. Responses on X to the show’s cancellation included many stating they weren’t even aware the show existed.

I honestly never heard of it.. poor marketing?

— Box Office Forecast (@BoxOfficeFcst) September 17, 2024

Literally the first time hearing of this show

— Sean Finnegan (@_seanfinnegan) September 17, 2024

Apple TV does a horrible job of promoting shows.

— Tim Ennis (@ThatsmeTim) September 17, 2024

Could Taika Waititi return to Marvel?

Back in 2023, the director told Variety that he would most likely not return to direct another Thor movie because his slate was booked for the next six or seven years. Now that any prospects for future seasons of Time Bandits have been lost, Waititi could have a gap in his calendar that needs filling. Maybe this is the perfect opportunity for him to return to Marvel.

I know for some MCU fans that idea will send a shiver down their spine, but perhaps it could be a chance for Taika to redeem himself. There’s no doubt the man is capable of making great films and shows when he wants to. It would be great to see him return and prove to fans he still has his mojo.

But could it really happen, though?

While speaking to Variety, Waititi made it clear that there is no bad blood between him and the superhero studio. “I love Marvel, I love working with them. I love Chris.” Despite the fan backlash to Thor: Love and Thunder, he clearly enjoyed working on the film and has left the door open for a possible return in the future.

The MCU’s Thor franchise has seen some major wins and disappointing failures over the years. The freshest of these was 2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder, the highly-anticipated follow-up to 2017’s incredible Thor: Ragnarok.

Following two lackluster initial Thor films, both of which paled in comparison to many of their Marvel peers, Ragnarok blew audiences away. It was good enough to fully revive the Thor franchise, but its follow-up, which brought back Ragnarok director Taika Waititi, was broadly considered a flop.

It’s not the worst Marvel movie of all time, by any means, but Love and Thunder didn’t come close to the heights of Ragnarok. It was so disliked by audiences, in fact, that many of them set sights on Waititi. They blamed him for the film’s failure to meet sky-high expectations, and some even predicted the end of the award-winning director’s career.

That’s not what happened, but the fallout from Thor: Love and Thunder continues to haunt both Waititi and star Chris Hemsworth. So much, in fact, that Hemsworth was recently reflecting on the film — more than a year and a half after its release — and considering what failings led to its downfall.

Is Chris Hemsworth really to blame for Love and Thunder‘s failure?

Let’s just start this off with a clear statement: Quite a few things went wrong with Thor: Love and Thunder, and none of them can be heaped in the lap of a single individual. Chris Hemsworth is not fully at fault for the film’s poor reception, nor is Waititi, or Natalie Portman, or any of the other talented people who signed onto the film.

Waititi has largely been the target of blame for the last year and a half, but Hemsworth is shifting the target following a recent interview with Vanity Fair. He told the publication that he got “caught up in the improv and the wackiness,” and that he ultimately “became a parody of myself.”

He went onto explain that, for years, he felt a bit stuck in the role of Thor. Ragnarok changed that, but the audience response to Love and Thunder brought it all back around. In the wake of the hate hurled Waititi’s way, Hemsworth is happy to take the blame on himself instead, but he’s really not deserving of it.

Is Taika Waititi letting Hemsworth take the blame?

In the wake of Hemsworth’s interview, a took to the site formerly known as Twitter to once again drag Waititi down. He accused the Jojo Rabbit director of “letting the lead actor take the blame for his own slop” and blasted Waititi as “embarrassing.”

It would be a fair stance to take if Waititi, rather than Hemsworth, were making the statement to Vanity Fair. But it isn’t. Hemsworth is trying to take on responsibility for something that is absolutely not his fault, but Waititi is in no way ing Hemsworth’s self-sacrifice. He’s just no longer interested in being accused of bad directing when a single misstep trips up an otherwise decorated career as a director.

So to say he’s letting Hemsworth take the blame is a reach at best. Waititi would likely never make the claim for himself, and he’s not involved in the Vanity Fair article at all. Those words are Hemsworth’s alone, and — while we may not agree with his self-deprecation — he has every right to feel any way he wants about his own creative projects.

Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is practically Schrodinger’s Marvel movie at this point. It’s lost its director (Shang-Chi‘s Destin Daniel Cretton), its original writer (Quantumania‘s Jeff Loveness), and it could well ditch its titular character too. So does it still exist or doesn’t it?

Apparently, it does, according to the latest development on the Avengers 5 front, one which seems to be delivering exactly what the fandom have been wanting on one hand, and doing the exact opposite on the other.

Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is entrusted in the brains behind the Multiverse Saga’s most beloved and most divisive entries

This has been rumored for several weeks as it is, but Deadline has now confirmed that screenwriter Michael Waldron has been hired to pen The Kang Dynasty, in addition to his pre-existing commitment to script Avengers: Secret Wars. At first glance, you’d think this would be universally popular news — the showrunner of Loki season 1? Great! But Waldron is also responsible for writing the ever-divisive Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (even if it did earn almost $1 billion at the box office). Fans probably would’ve preferred Loki season 2 EP Eric Martin, but hey, there’s still time for even more twists and turns before this cat is let out of its box.

“I don’t know if it’s about just getting bigger and bigger and bigger”: Iman Vellani reveals expert opinion on how to fix the MCU

How do you solve a problem like the MCU? There’s only one person we trust to find the answer. Kevin Feige? No, I’m talking about Iman Vellani, the future president of Marvel Studios herself (what? It could happen). The Kamala Khan actress has always been equal parts Marvel star and Marvel fan, so naturally her comments on what the studio needs to do to restore the franchise to its glory days are spot-on. “I don’t know if it’s about just getting bigger and bigger and bigger,” she said to TheDirect. “Because then, like, what’s left? You know, I think it’s just about making the audience care about their characters.” How about hiring Vellani to write The Kang Dynasty, huh, Kev?

Taika Waititi completes transformation into Marvel villain by itting he had “no interest” in making Thor movies

At this juncture, I can only assume that, after the widely adored Thor: Ragnarok, Taika Waititi made a bet with someone to see if he could transform himself from Marvel poster boy to pariah. Following Thor: Love and Thunder receiving poor reactions last year, Waititi has now confessed he originally had “no interest” in making Marvel movies of any kind and only agreed to make his two Thor films because he was “poor.” Naturally, this hasn’t exactly endeared him to the fandom any. No wonder rumors are claiming Marvel is looking to go in a darker direction with Thor 5 and find a “more serious” director to helm it. Time to pay up, whoever made Waititi that wager.

One of the most influential and celebrated filmmakers of the current era, Taika Waititi has entertained us with his exceptional comedic intelligence and directorial prowess for over two decades.

Born on Aug. 16, 1975, in Wellington, New Zealand, as Taika David Cohen, Waititi has always been vocal about his upbringing and mixed heritage. He was raised in a multicultural home in the Aro Valley district of Wellington as well as the small village of Raukokore in the Bay of Plenty.

His father is a Māori of Te Whānau-ā-Apanui descent, who are the Indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. While his paternal grandfather, also named Taika, is well-known for being a soldier in the Māori Battalion during World War II.

Even though his mother raised him most of the time after his parents divorced when he was about five years old, Waititi was raised with a strong connection to his Māori heritage. His mother, Robin Cohen, whom he takes his legal surname from, was a schoolteacher and traces an Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry instead.