Somewhere along the line, Marvel Cinematic Universe fans lost interest in Taika Waititi, to the extent conspiracy theories are now circulating that claim Chris Hemsworth actually hates Thor: Love and Thunder, which proved to be one of the most talked-about entries in Phase Four for all the wrong reasons.
Of course, we can’t forget that Waititi is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker who made his name in the world of offbeat independent cinema, which is where he’s returning to recharge his creative batteries with upcoming sports comedy Next Goal Wins. Even then, it hasn’t been an easy production by any stretch.
Shooting kicked off in November 2019 and wrapped two months later, but in December 2021 it was confirmed that star Armie Hammer was being replaced by Will Arnett in reshoots, which made sense given the whole career-destroying cannibalism thing.
In an interview with Empire, though, Waititi admitted that he deliberately set out to make something that was the complete opposite of his MCU blockbusters, something that’s going to make the Love and Thunder detractors very happy.
“It was a great antidote to doing Thor and Jojo Rabbit. Not that there’s anything negative about doing those other films, but I just missed home so much. If you love films that are really authentic to the true stories, then you’re gonna hate this movie.”
In typical Waititi style, he has made a point of stating that people are going to hate Next Goal Wins, which continues his trend of intentionally needling the people he knows don’t like him. Not that he cares, but it could hypothetically be his last film before he heads off to a galaxy far, far away and Star Wars, so folks will be curious to check it out nonetheless.
