Taika Waititi was a surprise choice to helm the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Thor: Ragnarok, but fans of his work would have been hyped from the second it was first announced. The filmmaker brought his signature blend of irreverent, outlandish humor and well-drawn characters to the table, and effortlessly bonded it to the basic setup of a mega budget superhero sequel.
However, it turns out that the Academy Award winner almost missed out on Ragnarok altogether, if it wasn’t for a fortunate assist from Disney’s animated smash hit Moana. A lot of people might not even be aware that it was Waititi who wrote the initial draft of the screenplay in the early 2010s, even though Jared Bush was the sole scribe credited on the finished product.
As per The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe via Collider, Waititi had a very brief window in which to hook up with Kevin Feige and pitch his vision for Ragnarok, but he realized that his passport was on its way back to New Zealand while he was in Hawaii preparing for a flight to Los Angeles to meet the producer.
In the end, he found a letter from The Walt Disney Company about his contributions to Moana, and explained the situation to TSA agents in the hopes they’d let him get on a plane. As it turns out, the agents were huge fans of the movie, so they gave him a pass and the rest is history.