Things We Saw Today: Taika Waititi Is the Gift That Keeps on Giving

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It’s no secret that we here at TMS love Taika Waititi. I mean, the man is hilarious, talented, and deeply geeky: what’s not to love? Recently, Waititi made an appearance on the YouTube series Pizza Film School, which is hosted by fellow MCU alums Joe and Anthony Russo. The trio discussed favorite pizza places and classic films, and Waititi talked about the films that inspired his work on Thor: Ragnarok.

Waititi talked about Flash Gordon(AH-AH!) and Big Trouble in Little China as influences, saying “I wanted to capture a road trip of people who had no business hanging out with each other, … And I put all that to [Led Zepplin’s] ‘Immigrant Song.’ That song is basically about Thor. Just knowing the tone, knowing that it had to be playful and over the top…that this is unapologetically a space opera, and I’m going to pump this with color and life and energy and humor, and cool music. And the way I feel about that film is like if you’d ask a bunch of 10-year-olds what they want in that movie, we basically said yes to every idea.”

Ideas like Jeff Goldblum melting people into blue goo via a magic stick? We’re into it.

Waititi added that Kurt Russell’s performance in Big Trouble in Little China was an inspiration as well. “[Thor] just wants to get home, … All this stuff is going on, even with Hulk… he’s willing to leave people but also he’s trying to keep everyone together. He’s trying to be charismatic, and he’s trying to be a hero. He fails a lot, and tonally, that’s something from Big Trouble that I carried with me into Ragnarok.”

There’s a lot to enjoy in this interview, and it makes us all the more excited for Thor: Love and Thunder.

(via Syfy Wire, image: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

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