Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi named New Zealander of the year

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Writer/director Taika Waititi has made a serious name for himself in the span of 3 short years. While the man has been working in the business for the past 20, 2014's WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS immediately put him on the map, and his follow-up, HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE, proved that he was no fluke. At the very least, it was enough for Marvel to take interested and offer the man directing duties on THOR: RAGNAROK. As it stands, he's managed to do a lot these past few years and New Zealand has taken notice by naming him 2017 New Zealander of the Year. How about that!

Taika Waititi on being named New Zealander of the year:

It's a great honor and, yeah, it's pretty unexpected. I think if you're nominated for something like this, even if you won it's obviously a big surprise and sometimes you feel a bit like there's probably someone else more deserving, but at the same time, I'll take it. I'll humbly accept. I think it's really important what artists and filmmakers and our writers, what they do for putting New Zealand culture on the map.

I'd like to think that New Zealand would say that "Taika Waititi is the best thing to happen to New Zealand since THE LORD OF THE RINGS," but that's just speculation on my part. In any case, I've really enjoyed what I've see of the man's work so far. He has some great comedic sensibilities, as we've seen, and I can't wait to see what he'll do with a picture like THOR: RAGNAROK!

Taika Waititi's next film, THOR: RAGNAROK, will open in theaters on November 3, 2017.