History Creator / TaikaWaititi

** He comes off this for some Marvel Comics purists in regard to his MCU contributions. He went as far as saying he barely opened a single ''[[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Mighty Thor]]'' comic book and decided to make ''Thor: Ragnarok'' without taking any inspiration from it, and that the film was "written by a 6-year-old". Then a couple of years later he trolled further by pretending ''Thor: Love & Thunder'' has been written by a ''7'' year old.
** As for his ''Franchise/StarWars'' project, he has allegedly asked Creator/NataliePortman to play a role in it, allegedly not knowing she was Padmé Amidala in the Prequel Trilogy. Many fans find it hard to believe that he didn't know about this fact.

As a director, original works he's best known for include ''Film/WhatWeDoInTheShadows'' (which he wrote and directed alongside Jermaine Clement), ''Film/HuntForTheWilderpeople'', and ''Film/JojoRabbit'', all of which he appears in as an actor. He also wrote the initial screenplay of ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'' and has become a noted player in several big franchises, namely the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse (directing the [[Film/ThorRagnarok third]] and [[Film/ThorLoveAndThunder fourth]] ComicBook/{{Thor}} films) and ''Franchise/StarWars'' (directing an episode for ''Series/TheMandalorian'', voicing the character IG-11 on the show, and currently being attached to write and direct a live-action film for the franchise).

Taika David Cohen [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever ONZM]] (born 16 August 1975), also known as Taika Waititi (this surname belonging to his father and being adopted by him professionally), is a director, actor, producer, and screenwriter from UsefulNotes/NewZealand. He is of Māori (Te Whānau-ā-Apanui) and Russian Jewish heritage.

Graduating from Victoria University in Wellington, he originally worked primarily as a comedian and actor, and was one half of the comedy duo The Humourbeasts with Creator/JemaineClement. He also acted in local low-budget films and TV series, and in 2011 played a supporting role in the superhero film ''Film/GreenLantern2011'' before later turning his full focus to directing and writing.

Waititi has won an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward, a [[UsefulNotes/{{BAFTA}} British Academy Film Award]], a UsefulNotes/GrammyAward, and a Writers Guild of America Award (all of them for ''Jojo Rabbit'' in the Best Adapted Screenplay category).

Taika David Waititi (born 16 August 1975), also known as Taika Cohen [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever ONZM]], is an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward–winning director, actor, producer, and screenwriter from UsefulNotes/NewZealand. He is of Māori (Te Whānau-ā-Apanui) and Russian Jewish heritage.

Graduating from Victoria University in Wellington, he originally worked primarily as a comedian and actor, and was one half of the comedy duo ''The Humourbeasts'' with Creator/JemaineClement. He also acted in local low budget films and TV series and in 2011 played a supporting role in the superhero film ''Film/GreenLantern2011'' before later turning his full focus to directing and writing.

As a director, he's best known for ''Film/WhatWeDoInTheShadows'', ''Film/HuntForTheWilderpeople'', ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', and ''Film/JojoRabbit'', all of which he appears in as an actor. He also wrote the initial screenplay of ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}''.

In 2020, ''Jojo Rabbit'' won him his first Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

His official [[https://twitter.com/TaikaWaititi Twitter]].

* CastingGag: Has the honor of sharing two comic book based roles to Creator/KevinMichaelRichardson.

* {{Mockumentary}}: Used in ''Series/FlightOfTheConchords'', ''Film/WhatWeDoInTheShadows'' and the comedic ''WebVideo/TeamThor'' shorts he directed to show what Thor (and Bruce Banner) were up to in the run up to ''Film/ThorRagnarok''.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: His films definitely lean more towards the idealistic side of the scale, they may deal with serious themes but they usually do so with humour, pathos and plenty of heartwarming moments.

** He comes off a this for some Marvel Comics purists in regards to his MCU contributions. He went as far as saying he barely opened a single ''[[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Mighty Thor]]'' comic book and decided to make ''Thor: Ragnarok'' without taking any inspiration from it, and that the film was "written by a 6 year old". Then a couple years later he trolled further by pretending ''Thor: Love & Thunder'' has been written by a ''7'' year old.

* ''Next Goal Wins'' (TBD) [[superscript:DWP]] [[note]]co-written with Iain Morris[[/note]]

* ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'' (2021) as Ratcatcher 1 & Starro (voice) [[superscript:A]]

** ''[[WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021 What If...?]]'' (2021) as Korg (voice and motion capture) [[superscript:A]]

* ''Film/GreenLantern2011'' (2011) as Thomas Kalmaku [[superscript:A]]

* ''Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows2019'' (2019 — present) as Viago [[superscript:DPA]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Lightyear}}'' (2022) as Morrison (voice) [[superscript:A]]

* FailedASpotCheck: Reportedly, while working on ''Thor: Love and Thunder'', he asked Creator/NataliePortman if she'd like to be in his upcoming ''Franchise/StarWars'' film... and she had to remind him that she had already been ''one of the main stars of the prequel trilogy''.

* TrollingCreator: He comes off a this for some Marvel Comics purists in regards to his MCU contributions. He went as far as saying he barely opened a single ''[[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Mighty Thor]]'' comic book and decided to make ''Thor: Ragnarok'' without taking any inspiration from it, and that the film was "written by a 6 year old". Then a couple years later he trolled further by pretending ''Thor: Love & Thunder'' has been written by a ''10'' year old.

-->-- '''Taika Waititi'''

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* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: From very low-budget, primarily comedic independent films to the huge-budget, CGI-laden superhero tentpole film, ''Film/ThorRagnarok''. Despite the budget however, ''Ragnarok'' is still very much a Taika Waititi movie.[[note]]The first superhero movie he appeared in, ''Film/GreenLantern2011'', on the other hand, [[OldShame is not]].[[/note]] And ''then'' back to independent comedy, on a [[Film/JojoRabbit very touchy]] [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany subject]] this time around.

* ''Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows'' (2019 — present) as Viago [[superscript:DPA]]

** ''Thor: Love and Thunder'' (2022) as Korg (voice and motion capture) [[superscript:DWA]]

Taika David Waititi (born 16 August 1975), also known as Taika Cohen [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever ONZM]], is an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward–winning director, actor, producer, and screenwriter from UsefulNotes/NewZealand. He is of Māori and Russian Jewish heritage.

* ''Film/WhatWeDoInTheShadows'' (2014) as Viago [[superscript:DWP]] [[note]]co-written & co-directed with Jemaine Clement[[/note]]

* OldShame: He simply asked for a tumbleweed emoji when someone on Twitter asked him about his experience on ''Film/GreenLantern2011''.