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Credit: MarvelTaika Waititi is no stranger to The Walt Disney Company. The iconic director is perhaps best known for What We Do In The Shadows (2014), but came over to the House of Mouse to direct Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), an episode of The Mandalorian, and a future Star Wars film still in the works.
Amid uncertainty about the future of the Thor franchise and lead actor Chris Hemsworth, the New Zealand-born filmmaker just revealed a significant shift in his ideology about major motion pictures.
During a talk published via SBS News, Waititi criticized tokenistic representation in films, something Marvel Comics fans have long bemoaned as the studio focuses on non-white and non-male-led projects like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Captain Marvel (2019):
@sbsnews_au Māori filmmaker Taika Waititi has criticised tokenistic representation in Hollywood, arguing that it is “not reality and not authentic”. For the latest news videos, visit @sbsnews_au (link in bio)
“I think the word diversity is wrong,” Waititi said. “I think that the idea of diversification of the screen is not quite right because it’s actually confusing everyone, and what’s happening is, we’re mistaking that for, we have to include a person from every single race and every single background and every single part of the human experience in every show or everything we make.”
“That’s not reality, and it’s not authentic,” the Our Flag Means Death star continued. “I never grew up with a group of friends where there was someone who represented every ethnic group… I don’t want to see one token Polynesian character in your show, okay? That’s just weird.”
But Waititi wasn’t arguing that racial diversity isn’t necessary. He emphasized the value of telling culture-led stories, where people’s complex backgrounds can take center stage.
“What I want to see is a fully Polynesian-controlled, Polynesian story that’s written by and show-run by [Polynesians],” he argued. “…When we make our things, don’t give us a white showrunner to tell us the rules and tell us how to do things.”
Waititi could be part of a push for more authentically-told, diverse stories in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) over alleged tokenization. While not confirmed, the director has teased his return to Marvel Studios for Thor 5.
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