Thor: Ragnarok’s Taika Waititi to Play Blackbeard
According to an article on The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel Studios’ Thor: Ragnarok director and actor Taika Waititi will be portraying the role of Blackbeard the Pirate in an upcoming series for HBO Max, Our Flag Means Death.
Taika Waititi’s Marvel Adventures
Taika Waititi is an Oscar-winning creator who has a lot of experience both behind and in front of the camera. He’s directed (and acted in) movies like What We Do in the Shadows (which is now an ongoing TV series on FX) and Jojo Rabbit.
Waititi as Viago in 2014’s What We Do in the Shadows. Photo: Unison Films
However, fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe may know him as the beloved (but perishable) rock monster Korg.
Korg was introduced in Thor: Ragnarok (2017), which Waititi also wrote and directed. Then, the character appeared again in Avengers: Endgame (2019), and we don’t think that we’ve seen the last of Korg yet.
Photo: Marvel
Meanwhile, Taiki Waititi is directing the upcoming fourth Thor movie, titled Thor: Love and Thunder, starring Natalie Portman in the eponymous role, as well as Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Jaimie Alexander as Lady Sif, Chris Hemsworth as Thor Odinson, Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher, and Russell Crowe as Zeus.
Currently, Thor 4 is scheduled for release in 2022.
Tessa Thompson and Taiki Waititi. Photo: Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images
And it isn’t just through Marvel that Waititi has cultivated a positive working relationship both behind-the-scenes and on-the-screen with Disney. He also appeared in The Mandalorian season one as bounty hunter droid IG-11, as well as writing and directing the show’s first season finale.
Photo: Popsugar
Plus, on May the Fourth, 2020, it was announced that Waititi would be writing and directing an upcoming Star Wars movie.
Our Flag Means Death
The upcoming HBO Max show will have David Jenkins, who previously worked on People of Earth, as a showrunner. The comedic half-hour show’s first season will be comprised of six episodes and feature Taiki Waititi in the role of Stede Bonnet, the real-life historical figure best known as Blackbeard.
Future Blackbeard. Photo: D23
And Waititi isn’t the only MCU director who will be getting his due on HBO Max, as Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has his adaptation of Suicide Squad later this year.
MCU Creators Versus HBO Max
Will you be checking out Our Flag Means Death starring Waititi as Blackbeard? What about Gunn’s Suicide Squad movie? Let us know, Marvel Blog True Believers!
