According to Taika Waititi, he directed “Thor: Ragnarok” since he was “poor” at the time

Taika Waititi isn’t afraid to be extremely open about why he decided to enter the Marvel Universe with the release of “Thor: Ragnarok” in 2017.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker said that he originally “had no interest in doing one of those films,” despite the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s enormous popularity, on Monday’s episode of the “Smartless” podcast.

“It wasn’t on my sort of whole plan on my career as an auteur but I was poor and I’d just had a second child,” Waititi said. “And I thought, you know what? This would be a great opportunity to feed these children.”

He also made light of the fact that, at the time, he thought that people in the Marvel fans “hated” the fact that he had been chosen for the picture. Before that movie, Waititi gained recognition for his roles as co-writer, co-director, and actor in the films “What We Do in the Shadows” (2014) and “Hunt for the Wilderpeople” (2016).

One of the most well-liked pictures in the “Thor” movie saga, “Ragnarok” took home more than $800 million at the box office worldwide.

The “Thor” film franchise, starring Chris Hemsworth, consists of four films in total. After the 2011 release of the first film, three sequels were released: “Thor: Dark World” in 2013, “Thor: Ragnarok” in 2017, and “Thor: Love and Thunder” in 2022, which was written and directed by filmmaker Takayuki again.

Waititi is most known for starring in and directing the 2020 film “Jojo Rabbit,” which won him an Oscar for best adapted screenplay. This is in addition to his work with Marvel.