Hear Me Out: Why One Moment From Conan O'Brien's Show Has Me Thinking He And Taika Waititi Really Need To Do A Movie Together

Taika Waititi and Conan O'Brien next to each other on Conan O'Brien Must Go

(Image credit: Max)

I usually try to do my best to avoid watching trailers, but I could not resist checking out a sneak peek at the second season of Conan O’Brien Must Go. I have been a fan of the former late-night TV host since his days at NBC’s Late Night, and I believe that his Emmy-winning travel docuseries, which is available with a Max subscription, is one of his most wonderful creations yet.

There is a moment from the Conan O’Brien Must Go Season 2 teaser that has me especially excited for its return, in which O’Brien, while visiting New Zealand, urges Academy Award-winning filmmaker Taika Waititi to cast him in one of his movies. While the comedian likely said this in jest, I genuinely think their collaboration could be a match made in heaven for a couple of reasons.

Conan O'Brien in Murderville — (Image credit: Netflix)

Conan's Improvisational Skill Works Perfectly For Waititi's Comedy Style

Any fan of Taika Waititi’s movies knows that he often encourages his actors to ad-lib. While some believe he may have overdone it with the improv comedy in Thor: Love and Thunder (even star Chris Hemsworth), many also agree he struck gold with the first of his Marvel movies, 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok, and three years earlier with his acclaimed horror-comedy movie, the documentary-style What We Do In The Shadows.

I believe that, if Waititi wants to catch lightning in a bottle with more hilarious ad-libs in a future project, it would be a mistake not to cast Conan O’Brien. With a legendary background that includes writing for The Harvard Lampoon and shows like Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons, the comedian has developed a knack for coming up with whip-smart jokes on the fly, as demonstrated on his podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, and his guest appearance on the partially improvised series Murderville on Netflix, to name just a few. I imagine he would not even need a script, but just a simple prompt, and the result would be magical.

Conan O'Brien in Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain — (Image credit: NBCUniversal)

Conan Seems To Have Caught The Acting Bug

Now, imagine if Waititi was interested in casting O’Brien in a comparatively more serious role that would not be improv-heavy, a la his Oscar-winning World War II-era satire Jojo Rabbit from 2019 or his 2023 underdog sports biopic, Next Goal Wins. If you ask me, I think he would also be a great choice in that regard.

Since retiring from late-night TV, O’Brien has indulged in taking more acting roles lately, and not counting his many fun cameos over the years. For instance, he starred in the SNL-adjacent comedy film Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain and has even took on a more dramatic role in the upcoming A24 movie, If I Had Legs I'd Kick You, for which he earned rave reviews when the drama premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. In that regard, I think he would be able to handle any type of role that Waititi throws at him.

Taika Waititi has multiple projects in the works right now, including his long-awaited Star Wars movie. I don’t see why that mysterious cosmic adventure could not be Conan O’Brien’s chance to become a part of the galaxy far, far away.

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Jason Wiese writes feature stories for CinemaBlend. His occupation results from years dreaming of a filmmaking career, settling on a "professional film fan" career, studying journalism at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO (where he served as Culture Editor for its student-run print and online publications), and a brief stint of reviewing movies for fun. He would later continue that side-hustle of film criticism on TikTok (@wiesewisdom), where he posts videos on a semi-weekly basis. Look for his name in almost any article about Batman.