A massive budget and powerful marketing aren't the only influences Disney has over Marvel Studios movies. According to Thor: Ragnarok director, Taika Watiti, the comic book adaptations have also inherited the Disney creative method of tearing things down and rebuilding them when necessary.
"I’ve learned that there are really no rules. There’s no roadmap. [Marvel is] very similar to Pixar in that way," Watiti told Collider at the premiere for his latest film, Hunt for the Wilderpeople. "They are constantly looking for the best story, they’ll tear everything down to rebuild it to make sure they have the best story. That’s why Marvel is good, they keep pushing and pushing and trying to get the best thing possible."
This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. Disney and its studios are notorious for their willingness to change, restructure, and reframe stories throughout development. Frozen originally painted Elsa as a villain, Pixar's The Good Dinosaur changed directors and roughly 90% of the voice cast, and the upcoming Zootopia reportedly didn't even have a script or characters when it was pitched - just an idea about anthropomorphic animals living in a city.
Whatever the creative process, you can't deny the results: the Marvel films continue to be a major success for Disney, with the Asgardian god of thunder himself raking in more than $1 billion worldwide between his two films. And that doesn’t look set to change any time soon...
Directed by Taika Waititi and starring Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Jaimie Alexander and Mark Ruffalo, Thor: Ragnarok will be released in UK cinemas on October 27, 2017 before opening in US theatres on November 3, 2017.
Seen something newsworthy? Tell us!
Image: Marvel/Disney
