Taika Waititi is a prolific director who created one of the best Marvel movies to date, aka Thor: Ragnarok. Yet his next venture into the Marvel Cinematic Universe turned out to be one of the most debatable entries of the entire superhero verse. Thor: Love and Thunder, although based on the comics, had some polar opposite reviews, while some found the silliness and goofiness of the movie fun others criticized it for being too tacky.
Marvel fans, too, jumped on the wagon to blame Watiti’s aversiveness to the character of Thor as the reason why the movie was so bad. But if Anthony Mackie’s new interview has some weight, it means all the criticism surrounding Love and Thunder being unlike the comics was for nothing.
Anthony Mackie Might Have Unwittingly Defended Taika Waititi
Taika Waititi was instantly one of the most loved names in the Marvel fandom when Thor: Ragnarok was released. But he fell from the good graces of Marvel fans just as fast as he had climbed up when Thor: Love and Thunder was released.
Based on the Thor comics by Jason Aaron featuring Gorr the God Butcher and the Mighty Thor, the movie was criticized by fans for not being loyal to the source material (see Reddit). Not only did the fans call it disrespectful but also labeled it as a farce and a cruel parody of what could have been an incredibly powerful feature.
Yet, Anthony Mackie, aka the new Captain America/Falcon, in his latest interview with Radio Times, revealed how rigid the lines of creativity are within the walls of Marvel Studios.
“…It’s such a space of controlled entertainment. Like, there’s only so much you can do. There’s only so much creativity you can bring to the table, because Stan Lee gave us so much content. And that’s the hard thing about the Marvel universe. It’s like, you can’t really go outside of the lines of those comic books.”
And so while creative freedom in Marvel Studios only exists within the confinements of preexisting materials, it is important to note that not everyone hated Thor: Love and Thunder (see Reddit).
Taika Waititi Really Struggled With Making Thor: Love and Thunder
Fans not only hated Thor: Love and Thunder for apparently being unfaithful to the source, but they also hated the movie for thinking Watiti did not refer to the comics at all while making the movie (see Reddit). It was Taika Waititi’s interview with the SmartLess podcast that apparently started this fan backlash and hate.
The Oscar-winning director had stated that he did not read the Thor comics growing up, for the character seemed baffling to him. Yet, after reading Mackie’s comment, it is unlikely that the Marvel executives would have allowed him to create a movie about a character like Thor without prior research.
And his comments in Thor: Love and Thunder – The Official Movie Special Book prove that Waititi did, in fact, do his research. In the book, the Jojo Rabbit star revealed how they struggled to balance the humor and serious side of the movie for the comic book was extremely tense because of Jane’s story.
While he did add that one needs to tweak a few things to make a film, the movie was in the end based on the comic book. And it is near to impossible for any director to faithfully adapt any written material to the tee, no matter how talented they might be.
Thor: Love and Thunder can be streamed on Disney+.
