Predictably, Waititi’s packed schedule was a considerable obstacle when “Our Flag Means Death” first landed on his plate. Jenkins had him in mind for the role from the very start, but he took a while for everything to fall into place. Waititi explained this during an interview with Hype:
“This is one of the rare occasions where I didn’t put myself in my own thing; someone else asked me to do it. David Jenkins wrote Blackbeard with me in mind and, at first, I was just too busy to do it. But with some shuffling of schedules, we were able to do it, which was great because I really wanted to play the role.
But just because Blackbeard had his hands busy learning to use a fork doesn’t mean Waititi could leave his other projects on the back burner. While filming the series, Waititi was also in the middle of editing the adventures of a certain Asgardian God. It proved to be an immensely tiring experience – but ultimately, very worth the trouble.
“I was Blackbeard by day and then was editing ‘Thor’ by night and doing various other things. I was trying to work from set with the shaggy hair and the beard. It was a management nightmare, but we pulled it off and it was probably one of my favorite roles that I’ve played because it’s something I didn’t have to write so I could bring a lot of myself to it.”
In a way, it almost seems like fate that the two projects overlapped — after all, both are epic adventures doubling as love stories.
“Thor: Love and Thunder” hits theaters on Friday, July 8, 2022. Until then, “Our Flag means Death” is currently available to stream on HBO Max.