Following the different but equally divisive reception to both The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, fans weren’t exactly clamoring for any more Star Wars movies for at least a few years, but their excitement levels quickly shot up when it was announced that Taika Waititi had signed on to direct a new big screen project set in a galaxy far, far away.
Having completely reinvented the title character into one of the MCU’s most popular heroes in Thor: Ragnarok, directed the acclaimed season finale of The Mandalorian and picked up an Academy Award win for Best Adapted Screenplay thanks to his satirical Jojo Rabbit, the 44 year-old’s stock has never been higher, and he seems like an ideal candidate to handle a standalone Star Wars film.
Given his increased standing and clout in Hollywood, Waititi is likely to be given a lot of creative freedom when it comes to his involvement in the long-running sci-fi series, at least if he can manage to keep Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy’s input to a minimum, and we’ve now heard that the What We Do in the Shadows director is keen to use some Mandalorian characters in his Star Wars movie, and that includes cultural phenomenon Baby Yoda.
According to our intel – which comes from the same sources that told us Ahsoka Tano will show up in The Mandalorian and [SPOILERS] would be revealed as a traitor in The Rise of Skywalker – Waititi reportedly had such a blast working on the aforementioned Disney Plus show as both director and the voice of droid IG-11 that he’s keen to bring some of the series’ characters to the big screen, and is said to be desperate to get his hands on Baby Yoda to play a major part in his movie.
The filmmaker’s irreverent sense of humor and comic sensibilities might not immediately appear to fit the established template for Star Wars pics, but we’re still talking about a guy that directed one of the MCU’s best-ever entries to over $850 million at the box office and then played Hitler in an awards season favorite immediately after. So, there’s little reason to doubt that he’ll be able to adapt.
