Known for his comedic and light-hearted approach to interesting and dark topics, Takia Waititi has made a name for himself as one of the most sought-after directors. He made the Oscar-winning Jojo Rabbit, calling it a love letter to his mother, and single parents everywhere.
The director was also lauded for reviving the Thor Franchise, giving it a completely different tone and allowing the world around the titular character to develop. The tone in his directorial style has also smoothened the melding of the Thor and Guardians of the Galaxy franchises.
Reception of Thor: Love and Thunder
An important installment to MCU’s fourth phase, Takia Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder released on July 8, 2022, starred Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Christian Bale. Much to the fan’s excitement, Christian Bale returned to the superhero genre as Gorr the God Butcher.
You were adapting Godbomb and Godbutcher. There's nothing "funny" or "whimsical" about that
— Why So Snappy ??? (@MaxCobain04) July 18, 2022
make better movies and dont shit on vfx artists
— Toasty (@Toasty59672724) July 17, 2022
Despite the appreciation that the director received for Thor: Ragnarok, many were not satisfied with how the director handled the fourth installment. With issues with the overabundance of jokes and mishandling of Christian Bale’s performance, fans are not happy.
I mean I always like thought with a little bit of comedy like I started reading the GORR the gun but your storyline and Thor and does act a bit comedic and there as well I just think that Thor should be serious and funny
— KUBIRAS (@MIGHTYSKYFATHER) July 17, 2022
Taika Waititi defends Thor, again
After defending himself repeatedly for Thor: Love and Thunder, Taika Waititi has found himself against a wall again. He replied to a tweet showing Thor being lighthearted in a Deadpool comic to defend the tone of his film.
This is a (over the top comedy3rd wall breaking) DEADPOOL Comic where Thor & Luke Cage were influenced by MadCap to dance then tear him in half. Not quite the tone of The God Butcher arch. If you read the comics you'd probably choose better stories to suit your irreverent style!
— Vad_Millan🗡💭🤙🏼 (@BaruJinn) July 17, 2022
That's a Deadpool comic not a THOR comic and definitely not Love & Thunder was based on.
— Lero_Lero CANDY (@boohoo_D) July 18, 2022
Fans hit back with tweets calling the director a hack and not funny. They further stated how Deadpool is known for having a wacky and slapstick sense of humor which does not translate well for the Thor character.
Except this is from a Deadpool comic. It’s not canon to the bigger arc Thor had in his solo run at that time nor to the bigger universe arc that solo arc was a part of. You made a one-off in the middle of a shared universe and now other people have to work around that…again.
— … (@losingmymind59) July 17, 2022
It's from a deadpool comic where everyone's a joker.
If you wanna do a comedy make a deadpool movie. Learn something from Sam raimi on how to do stuff tonally, you hack.— I stan She Hulk. A lot😇😇😇 (@koushik7496) July 17, 2022
Many went as far as to compare his directorial style to Sam Raimi’s, calling his style far more tonally inconsistent with Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. This comes after even Sam Raimi’s movie was criticized for many issues and resulted in another upset for a Marvel film.
Source: Twitter
