Taika Waititi Is A Perfect Fit For The Upcoming Star Wars Movie And Here's Why
Announced specifically on Star Wars Day, the New Zealand filmmaker, Taika Waititi, known for his work on Thor: Ragnarok and The Mandalorian, will be handling directing duties on the next Star Wars movie.
Though Disney and LucasFilm are keeping mum on plot details, Waititi will be joined by 1917 scribe Krysty Wilson-Cairns to develop the screenplay. But don't get the forge going for your beskar armor just yet, there's no word at to when the next Star Wars will be released, or even when preproduction is supposed to commence. It's not the only project of Waititi's that suffered, either. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, Waititi's Raganok sequel, the upcoming Love and Thunder, has been rescheduled and will hit theaters on November 5, 2021.
As a Star Wars fan, I'm excited to see what the 44-year-old director has planned for the sci-fi world created by George Lucas. I hope Waititi's contract extends from one installment to a trilogy of his own Star Wars movies.
Now that it's all been confirmed, here's why the Jojo Rabbit director is the perfect choice for Star Wars:
He played IG-11
Waititi voiced the bounty hunter droid known as IG-11 in the space crime/drama, The Mandalorian. The voice actor had to make IG-11 sound robotic but still have a bit of emotion, like Anthony Daniels did for C-3PO. Waititi definitely understood how droids talk in the Star Wars Universe.
Chapter 8
The Academy Award winner directed the first season finale of The Mandalorian. With all the slam-bang action and hilarious dialogue within the episode, this is a great indicator of what his Star Wars movie will look like.
The Stormtroopers
The Mandalorian, which takes place after Return of the Jedi, presented two different kinds of Stormtroopers. After of the fall of the Empire, the Stormtroopers turned into wanna-be gangsters in order to find work. In the season finale, Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) led an army of Stormtroopers, who all acted like trained soldiers. Waititi depicted those Stormtroopers working together as a close-knit team as they trapped the title character inside a burning building.
The Opening Scene
In the laugh-out-loud opening scene of Chapter Eight, comedians Adam Pally and Jason Sudeikis dressed up as two scout troopers from the Stormtrooper army. Waititi showed off his cheeky humor as Baby Yoda got knocked around by the bumbling duo.
Special Effects
The Star Wars franchise is recognized for the memorable designs of its extraterrestrial creatures, such as Jabba the Hut and the Ewoks. In 2014, Waititi's horror mockumentary, What We Do in the Shadows, featured different kinds of monsters, from vampires to werewolves, that needed its fair share of designs and practical effects. He's got the experience and then some.
He made the TIE fighter scary
In the thrilling action of the show's season finale, Waititi captured the quick speed and agility of the TIE fighter in the final minutes. The flying starfighter fired off lasers and placed the helmet-wearing bounty hunter into a desperate corner. Waititi pulled off the suspense and tension with just one TIE fighter. Imagine if he had a whole fleet of them!
The Lightsaber
Spoilers! At the end of the season finale, Moff Gideon held a frightening black lightsaber in his hand. Since the finale was designed to keep viewers wanting more, I'm really excited to see what Waititi will do in a lightsaber duel.
He did a Marvel movie
The Raganok director played around in the comic book world and added eye-popping colors to his sci-fi extravaganza. Waititi brought to life characters from the Thor comics, such Skurge (Karl Urban) and Valkryrie (Tessa Thompson). Since he knows how to put his own creative spin on Marvel's source material, then George Lucas' space mythology is in really good hands.
He has an Oscar
After winning for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 2020 Academy Awards, Waititi has enough clout in the Hollywood industry to choose what movie he wants to work on, and this is what he chose. Will he get Star Wars a tiny gold statue? Waititi doesn't need to make a Star Wars movie to boost his career, but I'm definitely glad he's making one.
He has done a mixture of genres
The Star Wars franchise is an entertaining mix of space adventure, sci-fi action, and comedy/drama. Waititi has done horror/comedy with What We Do in the Shadows (2014), a war comedy with 2019's Jojo Rabbit, and a coming-of-age drama, Boy from 2010. Star Wars needs a filmmaker who you can't simply pin down and categorize.
