Taika Waititi Was Offered a Star Wars Movie … Or Was He?

News broke yesterday, as everyone was logging off work on the East Coast, that Taika Waititi had, reportedly, been asked to make a StarWars movie—meaning I was screaming on public transportation about one of my favorite directors taking on a whole Star Wars movie.

Waititi, who was recently nominated for his adapted screenplay at the Academy Awards for Jojo Rabbit, has already been connected to the Star Wars franchise with his work in The Mandalorian, as IG-11 or the droid who went from trying to kill Baby Yoda to dying for Baby Yoda instead. He also directed the finale of the first season which was one of the best episodes in the entire run. So, the news that Lucasfilm approached Waititi to direct? Not out of the blue.

But then … there’s Waititi’s response to the news:

While it seems as if our excitement can only be short-lived, I’d rather focus on why I think Waititi would be a perfect fit for a Star Wars trilogy. (Yeah, I’m aiming high.) There is a kind of vision that Waititi has that I’ve seen very few other directors bring to their projects. While each of his movies are different, they’re all undeniably Taika.

So, bringing that feel into the Star Wars universe and bringing characters to life that are new, we’d get to see that uniqueness shine in a way that I think Star Wars needs. Do you want to know why The Mandalorian works so well? It’s because we’re looking at this franchise in a different light, while still remembering the past. It isn’t heavy-handed in its nostalgia, and it brings a new aspect of the Star Wars galaxy to us.

That’s exactly what I think Taika Waititi would bring to a trilogy. Look at what he did with Thor: Ragnarok. He brought a character whose standalone series was something very few of us paid a lot of mind and gave us one of the greatest movies in the Marvel canon. Not only that, but Waititi knows Star Wars and how to tell a story within the confines of that world, so I trust him to bring a trilogy to life more than others.

I just wish there’d be truth to this in some way. We’re getting so much content on Disney+ with Star Wars, and now that J.J. Abrams’ trilogy is over, it’d be nice to see where Waititi would take it. So sure, this is all just a “rumor” (or maybe Taika was also just excited about Stevie Nicks going to the Governors Ball this year), but it still brings up the topic of directors for Star Wars, and if I trust anyone with a beloved property, it’s Taika Waititi.

(image: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

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Rachel Leishman

Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. She's been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff's biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she's your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh. She has multiple podcasts, normally has opinions on any bit of pop culture, and can tell you can actors entire filmography off the top of her head. Her current obsession is Glen Powell's dog, Brisket. Her work at the Mary Sue often includes Star Wars, Marvel, DC, movie reviews, and interviews.

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