'Thor 3' Finds Its Director 

Taika Waititi  Photo by Stefanie Loos/Invision for The Hollywood Reporter/AP)

The third installment of the Marvel series is titled 'Thor: Ragnarok.'

Taika Waititi, who co-wrote and co-directed the vampire spoof

, is in negotiations to direct the third installment of Marvel’s Thor movies, titled

Chris Hemsworth is reprising his role of the Norse god of thunder.

Waititi’s emergence as the choice caps off a round of intense meetings that took place over the last month.  Ruben Fleischer, Rob Letterman and Rawson Marshall Thurber were the other directors that were finalists for the gig.

Waititi is the latest head-scratcher from Marvel for their pick to direct a big-budget extravaganza, especially one steeped in the Norse mythology and an Apocalypse myth.

Waititi is best known for his comedic work — co-starring with Jemaine Clement in

, the well-regarded vampire parody that debuted at Sundance.

(Fun fact: he appeared with Ryan Reynolds in

, the 2011 adventure movie from Marvel’s superhero movie rival, Warner Bros.)

While Waititi may not be the obvious choice for a movie such as a

installment, the kind of outside-of-the-box thinking behind hires like Waititi's has served Marvel well. The studio tapped comedy directors Joe and Anthony Russo for

, a move that turned out so well that the brothers not only directed the third

director James Gunn is another example of someone from the fringes that Marvel brought into the majors.

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