Anna Daniels
There was so much excitement over Taika Waititi being tapped to direct a Star Wars movie that some forgot to check with Waititi himself to see if those rumors were really true. Well, it turns out most media outlets jumped the gun a little.
He’s backing off a little now, even though it really was confirmed Lucasfilm was considering him after his masterful job directing one episode of The Mandalorian (plus voicing IG-11). Now Waititi is at the point where he’s bouncing around the idea of whether directing a Star Wars movie would really be good for him after all.
It may come to a point where being involved with the franchise will be the equivalent of hosting the Oscars. In other words: Everyone would love to do it in the abstract, yet still considers it career suicide.
Directing such a thing has to make logical sense for him
From the outset, everyone relished the thought of Waititi bringing his style to Star Wars since the franchise is badly in need of a little more comedy. Most fans thought he could create the perfect balance of comedy and drama (or the Force with the dark side) to bring something unique to the table.
Even then, a straight out Star Wars comedy would be ideal with the Waititi touch. Bringing more comedy into the franchise wouldn’t be a bad thing, no matter if it involved telling a tale from a different perspective or location.
From the side of Waititi, he’s denying there was really anything serious in the discussions with Lucasfilm. He now says he would only direct such a movie if it had any logic rather than force any prospects and hurt his career. Plus, he notes this philosophy applies to any movie and not just Star Wars.
What would a movie in this vein look like under his direction? At least he’s open to it rather than automatically promoting the idea as the equivalent of jumping into a Sarlacc pit.
If he does direct one, it’ll be years away
Because Waititi’s directing schedule is filled for the next two years, he wouldn’t get around to making a Star Wars film until well into the middle part of this decade.
One thing for sure is he’s proving he’s capable of jumping genres with rare skill. The fact that he’s directing Thor: Love and Thunder proves he can work within the context of big franchise films without feeling like a fish out of water.
It’s to Waititi’s advantage he’s not turning into a Martin Scorsese who only wants to make movies about real human beings and scorn Marvel. Fortunately, Waititi is capable of doing that while still deftly mixing in elements of fantasy. He’s officially placing two feet in different places, something only the rarest director can achieve.
Should he really make a Star Wars film, would he make it funnier than some of the brief funny moments the franchise had over the years?
‘Star Wars’ had more comedy than people remember
Analysts continue to note the funny moments in every Star Wars movie, and there’s usually more there than fans recall. Whenever they did do comedy (in the original trilogy), it frequently came from Han Solo, often bringing big laughs from his snarky one-liners.
In the prequels, of course, Jar Jar Binks was supposed to bring comedic relief, yet any real laughs fell flat. In the recent trilogy, it’s been grim all the way with only a few wry moments of levity from the likes of Luke (or the Porgs).
Allowing Waititi to bring more comedic sophistication would also humanize the Star Wars universe more into realizing things aren’t always taken so seriously there.
Even if this involved showing incompetent Stormtroopers (something already touched on in The Mandalorian), or even funny droids/aliens, Waititi would bring some humanity.
Only in Love and Thunder will everyone see what something in a similar vein would look like on the big screen.
Written by: Cheat
