Image: Marvel Studios
Ever since Zack Snyder had to do something of a victory lap with last year’s Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and even if it was just something for very devoted fans to keep hoping for, the question has been whether we should do more director’s and extended get cuts from big budget movies. Surprisingly, Marvel movies never addressed this in their many films; Even the bigger touchstones like Black Panther or Avengers: Endgame only have their original theatrical releases. While the question doesn’t come up often for the various MCU directors, Taika Waititi made his position on the matter clear: yeahhhhhhhhh, no.
In an interview with NME, Waititi was asked if there might be a ‘Waititi Cut’ version of this weekend’s Thor: Love & Thunder that could ever be unearthed. Not only did he shoot it down, but he said outright, “They suck. Director’s cuts aren’t good, and directors sometimes need to be controlled.” He felt that making a four-and-a-half-hour film just wasn’t worth it compared to a tighter, shorter film. And after seeing “many” director’s cuts of films, he found that the exhilaration of making a three- or four-hour cut quickly dissipated.
“You come into the edit,” Waititi continued, “you’re like, ‘I still kind of like it.’ And then, after about six months into the film, you realize that it was fun on the day, but has no business being in the film.” In an interview with Collider, Waititi and Chris Hemsworth said the four-hour montage cut was “insane.” was like a Monty Python sketch, but were quick to add that that’s not the praise it sounds like. “About five times the story just gives up and only for about 10, 15 minutes of just telling jokes.”
While Waititi has been pretty clear about his opinion on director’s cuts, it seems like he wouldn’t even approach the idea of just doing an extended version of Love & Thunder. When asked about it by Collider, he bluntly called it “so tiresome…The last thing I want to do is, ‘I think I need to try that scene again.’ The film has a strong structure now.” I guess , fans will have to settle for the deleted scenes during the home release in a few months.
Thor: Love & Thunder is in theaters now.
[via IGN]
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