Kathleen Kennedy's tenure as Lucasfilm President has seen fans forced (no pun intended) to contend with what's felt like an endless stream of Star Wars projects which are announced but never actually become a reality.
From Rian Johnson's aborted trilogy to Patty Jenkins' Rogue Squadron and even Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige's mysterious movie with Loki scribe Michael Waldron, the list keeps getting longer and longer. For a period, we believed Taika Waititi's unnamed project was set to be added to that list, but it appears not!
Talking to Variety (via SFFGazette.com) at the premiere of his new movie Next Goal Wins, the Thor: Love and Thunder director (who has directed and starred in episodes of The Mandalorian) said, "It will be...dramatic pause...a Taika Waititi film."
He'd go on to add with a laugh, "It’s gonna p*ss people off." Your guess is as good as ours when it comes to what that means, but the filmmaker is no stranger to drawing the ire of fanboys, particularly after his often divisive MCU movies put a comedic spin on Chris Hemsworth's God of Thunder.
Earlier this week, Waititi confirmed recent rumours he won't helm Thor 5 when he explained, "I know that I won’t be involved...I’m going to concentrate on these other films that I’ve signed on for." He'd later point out his Star Wars movie and noted, "[it's] still marinating."
Last year, the prolific writer and director elaborated on what he intends to bring to this Galaxy Far, Far Away...and what he's looking to avoid.
"Look, I think for the Star Wars universe to expand, it has to expand," he shared. "I don't think that I'm any use in the Star Wars universe making a film where everyone's like, 'Oh great, well that's the blueprints to the Millennium Falcon, ah that's Chewbacca's grandmother.'"
"That all stands alone, that's great, though I would like to take something new and create some new characters and just expand the world, otherwise it feels like it's a very small story."
We'd be lying to say we're not intrigued, and it feels like Waititi's approach to Star Wars will either be the best thing we've ever seen from this franchise or a complete and utter disaster. Thor: Ragnarok is still hailed by many as one of the best MCU movies; Love and Thunder, on the other hand, is often ranked among the worst and has even been slated by Hemsworth himself.
Do you think the filmmaker is a good fit for Star Wars? Chime in with your thoughts in the comments section.