Marvel’s given us some remarkable superheroes in the past few years – James Gunn, Anthony and Joe Russo, Tim Miller and most recently, Taika Waititi. Never heard of them? These are the men behind your beloved Superhero movies – the directors. While James Gunn and Tim Miller started their franchises with a bang, Guardians of the Galaxy and Deadpool respectively, the Russo brothers and Waititi had a different story altogether. Captain America was considered to be the weakest of the Marvel Avengers franchise, and the first offering barely limped its way to success. The Russo brothers with ‘Winter Solider’, not only churned out the best Captain America movie, but arguably the best Marvel movie made to date. So much so, that they are helming the grand homecoming of all Marvel superheroes – The Infinity War series of movies.
The second least preferred character from the Avenger’s franchise was Thor. However godly and all mighty it may have been, the truth was that even the nine realms and Gods could not help the movies from slumping into a bore. What Thor needed was not divine intervention, but just some mad antics from an earthly mind – that of Taika Waititi.

BUT WHO IS TAIKA WAITITI? 

Taika is one funny bloke from New Zealand. Yes – that place where Middle Earth is from. While at one spectrum is Peter Jackson and Lord of the Rings, on the other side sits Taika Waititi – who took Lord of the Rings to make ‘The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOw44VFNk8Y) Taika’s oddball comedy got the world to take notice, when he made ‘What We Do In The Shadows’ – a hilarious take on Vampires in daylight. And Thor needed just that – to come out of from its drapes, its shadows and fashion a fresh goofy voice, something Marvel’s been acing for a few years. But was he successful in doing that?

THOR IS NO LONGER A GOD. HE’S A ROCKSTAR.

Thor: Ragnarok is the most fun we’ve had in months at the movies. We won’t get into a review (there’s plenty on the internet), but we’d like to shed light on what Taika brought to the table. Firstly, he cut the convention, he cut the kingly speech, and he cut off Thor’s hair. Fuelled by Led Zeppelin’s ‘Immigrant Song’, sporting a buzz cut, embodying thunder, Thor was a rockstar you’d want to watch in action. It’s almost like he took all the power of the hammer and put it in the character. It was just bloody fun to watch. Then, he took the comic chops, sprinkled some on Thor, some on Odin (watch the movie to find out) and a rather generous some on Hulk. More Hulk, more banter and less Banner. In every sense of the word Hulk ‘smashed’ it.

Marvel is racing ahead of DC, and it’s laughing its way to the top. For a franchise full of superpowers, turns out the one that packs the maximum punch is ‘humour’. While DC continues to make brooding stories, Marvel is more focused on making you laugh and entertaining you. And with every new movie, we see a masterstroke in their choice of directors. In its latest venture, it’s almost like they handed the hammer to Taika Waititi and whispered in his ears, “Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." And boy, he did.