Taika Waititi admits he only agreed to direct Thor film because he was poor and wanted to feed his kids

Taika Waititi has opened up about the moment he decided to sign up to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Up until 2017, the Kiwi filmmaker had helmed four projects that were all set in his home country.

Eagle vs Shark, Boy, What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople had varying success and raised his profile in the film industry.

However, times were apparently getting tough when he received the offer of a lifetime.

While most up and coming directors would leap at a chance to be in charge of an MCU film, Waititi was a bit hesitant.

He explained on the SmartLess podcast that he was thinking of his family when he agreed to join Thor: Ragnarok.

“You know what? I had no interest in doing one of those films,” Waititi 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, and I thought, ‘You know what, this would be a great opportunity to feed these children'.

“And Thor, let’s face it — it was probably the least popular franchise.

"I never read Thor comics as a kid. That was the comic I’d pick up and be like ‘Ugh'.

"And then I did some research on it, and I read one Thor comic or 18 pages, or however long they are. I was still baffled by this character.”

But he was under no illusions that he wasn't exactly Marvel and Disney's top pick for the third film in the franchise.

“I think there was no place left for them to go with that," he revealed on the podcast.

"I thought, ‘Well, they’ve called me in, this is really the bottom of the barrel'."

Following Thor: Dark World's brutal reviews, the studio knew it had to breathe some fresh life into the story arc for the God of Thunder.

The first sequel had just a 67 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and it was going to be do or die with the third movie.

Ragnarok ended up becoming the best rated film in Thor's franchise as well as the whole MCU.

The fourth film in the saga, Love and Thunder, didn't fare as well with critics and Taika says he probably won't be able to return to direct a rumored fifth.

Topics: Taika Waititi, Marvel Cinematic Universe

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Senior Journalist at LADbible. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign. He is in charge of the LADbible Australia editorial content and social presence.

@stewartperrie