One disappointing Marvel Cinematic Universe movie is all it took to turn the tides of opinion against Taika Waititi, despite his 15-year filmography prior to Thor: Love and Thunder comfortably matching any filmmaker in the business when it came to consistent quality and acclaim.
The Academy Award winner is returning to his roots with his next feature by helming small-scale comedy Next Goal Wins, although it has admittedly been a long time coming. Shooting kicked off in November of 2019, but the pandemic and recastings exacerbated by original star Armie Hammer seriously slowed things down, and it’s been getting kicked from one release date to the next.
To give you an indication of just how long Next Goal Wins has been coming, Love and Thunder started shooting in early 2021, wrapped that same summer, released in theaters the following July, and has been streaming on Disney Plus since long before 2023 drew to a close. As for Waititi’s latest? Well, you’ll have to wait until November to see it on the big screen, although that could indicate a potential dark horse awards season contender.
Either way, Fandango has stepped in with a timely reminder the movie still exists, dropping a batch of new images that were snapped on set almost four years ago.
It’s been a while since Waititi delivered a more intimate film, and when he did he ended up winning an Oscar, so that’s reason enough to expect Next Goal Wins to remind everyone why he doesn’t deserve the trashing he’s been taking from certain corners of the MCU fandom.
