Taika Waititi Explains His Decision to Direct 'Thor' Movies in the MCU: 'I Was Poor'

Taika Waititi is opening up about his decision to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The 48-year-old director helmed 2017′s Thor: Ragnarok before returning for Thor: Love and Thunder in 2022.

On the latest episode of the SmartLess podcast, Taika detailed his thought process behind choosing to direct MCU titles.

Keep reading to find out more…

Surprisingly, Taika explained that he didn’t want to direct a Marvel property before signing on to Ragnarok, revealing that his decision to take on the movie was motivated by his financial situation at the time.

“I had no interest in doing one of those films,” he said. “It wasn’t on my plan for my career as an auteur. But I was poor and I’d just had a second child. I thought, ‘You know what, this would be a great opportunity to feed these children.’”

Taika then described how it all came about and revealed that the comic-book character, also referred to as the God of Thunder, hadn’t enthused him before.

“They called and said ‘do you want to do this?’ And Thor – let’s face it, was probably [Marvel's] least popular franchise,” he said. “I never read Thor comics when I was a kid. I did some research on it and I read one full comic, all 18 pages or however long they are. I was still baffled by this character.”

Taika recently confirmed that he will “not be involved” in the MCU’s next Thor film, as he’s currently working on a slate of other projects, including an unnamed Star Wars movie.

Regarding Marvel Studios moving forward with a different director for Thor 5, Taika played it cool.

“I would never feel like they are cheating on me,” he joked. “We’re in an open relationship, and it’s like if they want to see other people, I’m happy for that. I’d still get back into bed with them one day.”

If you missed it, Taika Waititi recently explained how he knew his wife Rita Ora was “the one”!