Director of next Thor film will 'shake the thing up' with 'fresher style of humour' - CNET

Enlarge Image

What will the director of "Thor: Ragnarok" bring to the forthcoming Marvel movie? "Jokes!" That's according to the man himself, Taika Waititi, who I caught up with at the Sundance Film Festival Saturday.

"My strength in this is bringing my style of humour," said Waititi, "which is probably a very different style of humour. They've had good jokes in them before, but I think where I come from is maybe a fresher style. It could just shake the entire thing up a bit."

"Thor: Ragnarok", due for release in late 2017, will be the third film to star Chris Hemsworth as the hammer-wielding Marvel comics character inspired by Norse mythology. Director Waititi previously wrote, directed and appeared in "Eagle vs Shark" and hilarious vampire mockumentary "What We Do in the Shadows", as well as helming episodes of "Flight of the Conchords". His latest film is "Hunt for the Wilderpeople", a comic, heartwarming tale of a gruff bushman and a cocky youngster going on the run in the wilds of New Zealand, starring Sam Neill and revelatory newcomer Julian Dennison.

"I know CNET!" smiled Waititi as I sat down with him at a snow-covered Sundance in Park City, Utah, where he showed "Wilderpeople" for the first time on Friday night. The film was shot in just five weeks on a relatively tight budget -- in stark contrast to the huge scale of a new Marvel production.

"I'm like the new kid in class," Waititi joked of his arrival in the Marvel fold. "They're really cool people. I've already made some great friends, and everyone wants to make the best story possible." Asked if he can give a hint as to what that story will be, he said, "No, because I don't even know. We're still figuring out what characters are in it and how they all interact. We're very early on in prep, storylining, figuring it all out."

2016 movies to geek out for (pictures)

1 - 5 of 44

Next Prev