‘Thor: Ragnarok’ director Taika Waititi, who is busy in post-production on his satirical dark comedy ‘Jojo Rabbit,’ has been brought on to help “crack” Disney-Fox’s animated take on pulp comic-strip hero ‘Flash Gordon.’
Created in 1934 by iconic artist Alex Raymond, the comic strip followed the adventures of Flash Gordon, an all American athlete who, along with his sweetheart Dale Arden, is kidnapped by eccentric scientist Dr. Hans Zarkov and taken to the planet Mongo, which was ruled by Ming the Merciless.
The character made the jump to the big screen in the late 1930s, and was played by Buster Crabbe in the film serials ‘Flash Gordon,’ ‘Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars’ and ‘Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe.’ 40 years later, Flash returned to the big screen in Mike Hodges’ campy cult feature, with Sam Jones in the role of eponymous hero.
According to Deadline’s Mike Fleming, the plan is for Waititi to write and direct, but the filmmaker’s camp indicates that it’s too early to tell what his actual role will be.