An art book dedicated to the film was recently released, which also includes some unpublished statements Taika Waititi. The director explained why he decided to include so much humor, explaining that he had some difficulty balancing the tones:
This is a battle I’ve been fighting for a long time, I want my films to be funny and I want a lot of humor to not only make fun of the idea of a space Viking, but to make fun of people. How we live our lives on this planet.
The comic is very serious and Jane’s story is really intense. I tried to insert some humor related to the story, but at the same time I tried to make the story emotional, which is always difficult. I’ve been struggling with this (tonal balance) in editing since we wrapped filming.
We filmed both funny scenes about cancer and more tragic scenes about cancer. Some people liked humor, others wanted it to be like comics… and like I always say, if you want something like comics, read comics. To make a film, something needs to change.
These statements follow the statements Chris Hemsworthwho admitted that sometimes they did not dose the humor well on set, resulting in it being “too over-the-top.”
