Thor: Ragnarok Director Learned What Not To Do From Green Lantern

Though Taika Waititi might be best known nowadays as the director who’s brought us excellent films like What We Do In the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, not to mention that he’s also behind the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok, it’s important to remember that he holds many acting credits as well. In fact, long before he jumped into the Marvel camp, he had a supporting role in 2011’s failed Green Lantern.

Yes, it’s true. Waititi showed up in the movie as Tom Kalmaku, and while the part may not have been very big, his time spent on the project proved to be an incredibly valuable learning experience. Speaking to Screen Rant during a recent set visit for Ragnarok, Waititi explained what he took away from Martin Campbell’s film, saying that being a part of the cast helped him realize what was wrong with comic book movies back then.

I mean, when I was in [Green Lantern] I was just determined to try and do a good job with the job I was doing there. I spent a long time just sitting around on set, as you do, and so I’d watch a lot of how Martin [Campbell] would run things. And he’s a great– he runs a set very, very well, and very efficient.

But again, very different to the way I do things, and I think I probably learned more watching a lot of other super hero movies, and a lot of big studio films, you know. I started realizing, ‘Oh I think I know what’s going wrong with these films.’

Continuing on, the director stated that story has to be king, and that’s something which other people don’t always realize.

Usually it comes down to story, and the fact that they… I don’t know. I don’t want to speak out too much [laughs]. But story is still king in my mind, and we worked a lot on the script. We stopped for an hour to just keep working a scene to make sure we got it right, and to make sure that it made sense. There’s one way you can do it, [which] is just bust on through and try and make your day, and you get stuff in the can, but it’s basically worthless when you come to edit.

So we just want to take the time to make sure we get stuff right. And all these actors are great at that. Chris [Hemsworth] especially is very smart and very savvy when it comes to story. I think he’s learned on a lot of the films he’s done, you’ve got to discuss it and make sure you get it right the first time. So we spend a long time doing that.

Now that it’s been crowned as fall’s most-anticipated movie, Thor: Ragnarok is fast approaching its November 3rd due date. Beyond that, the Marvel Cinematic Universe will soon be bracing for the arrival of Infinity War on May 4th, 2018, before the battle against Thanos reaches its conclusion the following year via Avengers 4.