Taika Waititi Is Already Joking About Previously Denying Those Star Wars Rumors

Taika Waititi in What We Do In The Shadows

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Star Wars is arguably the most popular movie franchise of all time, spanning decades and generations of fans. With J.J. Abrams' The Rise of Skywalker now in the rear view, the franchise is in a unique place. The Skywalker Saga has been completed, so any future installments in the franchise should allow the director to have more creative control. Thor: Ragnarok's Taika Waititi was recently announced as the director/writer of his own future Star Wars movie, and he's already joking about previously denying these rumors.

Taika Waititi has quickly become a household name, thanks to his iconic take on the Thor franchise and Oscar-winning work on Jojo Rabbit. Waititi also recently made his Star Wars debut, directing an episode of The Mandalorian and playing the role of IG-11. Rumors began swirling about his possible work directing a future movie months ago, which the filmmaker denied on social media. Now he's poking fun at that moment of temporary deception, saying:

Guess it wasn't a rumour after all. Psyyyych! #maythe4thbewithyou.

Tricky, tricky. It looks like Taika Waititi was in conversation with the folks at Lucasfilm for awhile. But as those negotiations occurred, he had to deny any involvement in the galaxy far, far away as a director. Luckily we can all laugh about it now, especially those fans who were hoping he'd helm an installment in the property.

Taika Waititi broke the silence about his new Star Wars gig over on his personal Instagram page. Waititi regularly uses social media to directly communicate with the fans, usually to hilarious results. But that also includes sometimes lying to the fans in order to do good business. We'll let it slide this time, Taika.

Star Wars fan can watch the Skywalker Saga in its entirety on Disney+. You can use this link for a free 7-day trial to the streaming service.

As far as what Taika Waititi has in store for his Star Wars movie debut, only time will tell. The filmmaker won't have to be tied to the events of the main franchise, including Luke's adventures and the eternal conflict with the Dark Side. He could presumably take the story anywhere, and set it at any time in Star Wars' long timeline.

The filmmaker's time working on The Mandalorian will no doubt be valuable to his process on a full-fledged Star Wars movie. Taika Waititi helmed the Season 1 finale, titled "Chapter 8: Redemption." The episode was an epic episode with a mixture of action and heart, and it left Disney+ subscribers hungry for more. Luckily another season is in the works, although it doesn't look like Waititi will be directing another episode.

You can watch Taika Waititi's work in both The Mandalorian and Thor: Ragnarok in Disney+. Check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.