The Marvel Cinematic Universe may finally get some long-overdue diversity behind the cameras: The Wrap reports that New Zealand’s Taika Waititi is in talks to direct Thor: Ragnarok, the third Thor standalone film. Waititi could become the first nonwhite man Marvel Studios has ever picked to direct one of its superhero blockbusters. (Ava DuVernay, you’ll remember, had been in talks to direct Black Panther, but declined the offer.) Waititi, who is half-Maori, previously directed Flight of the Conchords and co-wrote the screenplay for Disney’s upcoming Moana, about a Polynesian princess. He was also nominated for an Oscar for his 2004 short film Two Cars, One Night and won praise for 2010’s Boy, which became New Zealand’s highest-grossing film that year. Strangely enough, Thor won’t be Waititi’s first experience with comics: He also appeared in 2011’s Green Lantern as the Inuit engineer Thomas Kalmaku. Thor: Ragnorak is currently slated for 2017.
