Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder has been delayed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, but that hasn’t stopped work altogether. Waititi is still polishing up the script from quarantine and has been teasing new elements. For instance, two weeks ago, he revealed that the film would see the debut of the Space Sharks, which are pretty much what you’d expect from that name.
Now, however, we have an inkling of another character thanks to a leaked casting call. It’s asking for actors to audition for a supporting lead named Zappa. Marvel Studios and Waititi are looking for a young black male between 11 and 12 years old, either African-American or Black-British. His personality will be intelligent, fearless, mature and with a good sense of humor.
So, who’s Zappa? Well, there’s no existing Marvel Comics character with that name and I can’t think of anyone who fits the (vague) character description. However, Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok took a lot of inspiration from Jack Kirby, which looks to continue in Love and Thunder. Kirby was good friends with musician Frank Zappa, too.
According to Frank Zappa’s son Ahmet:
“Jack would come over and smoke cigars and Frank would smoke cigarettes, and they’d talk and talk.”
Frank Zappa was also a huge comic book fan, even going so far as to advertise his music in Marvel Comics. In addition, Taika Waititi has mentioned being a fan of Frank Zappa’s music. All this probably nods toward at least the name being a reference to Frank Zappa.
Perhaps this is a temporary moniker chosen for casting in order to hide the presence of a well known character in the movie, or perhaps he’s a new character created by Waititi? If you have any better ideas, let us know in the comments.
Thor: Love and Thunder is now set for release on February 18th, 2022. Fingers crossed it doesn’t slip any further.
