Here’s yet another reason to believe that Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok should be more interesting than your run-of-the-mill Marvel flick: The Wrap reports that Mark Mothersbaugh is writing the score. Mothersbaugh has collaborated with Wes Anderson multiple times, composing the music for Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums. More recently his work helped form the “awesome” world of The Lego Movie. He’s part of the Phil Lord and Chris Miller crew with credits on the two Jump Street films and The Last Man On Earth. But, of course, Mothersbaugh is still probably best known as a member of Devo. Waititi invoked Mothersbaugh’s heritage in a tweet seemingly confirming the news.
The music of Marvel hasn’t been particularly impressive and/or memorable, but perhaps Mothersbaugh can change that trend. (Though, admittedly, we can’t vouch for the score of Last Vegas, for which Mothersbaugh was responsible.) Meanwhile Waititi, best known for the indie comedies Hunt For The Wilderpeople and What We Do In the Shadows, appears to be bringing an offbeat flair to the project, billed as a “road trip” movie by Mark Ruffalo and a “gladiator movie” by The Wrap. If nothing else, Waititi’s vision has given us some highly enjoyable photos of Thor and Loki in their versions of street clothes.