Taika Waititi only directed 'Thor: Ragnarok' because he was "poor".

The 48-year-old filmmaker has helmed two movies in the superhero franchise but explained how he had "no interest" in working in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and only did so to support his children financially.

Speaking on the 'Smartless' podcast, Taika said: "You know what? I had no interest in doing one of those films. It wasn't on my plan for my career as an auteur.

"But I was poor and I'd just had a second child, and I thought, 'You know what, this would be a great opportunity to feed these children.'"

The 'Next Goal Wins' director added: "And 'Thor', let's face it – it was probably the least popular franchise. I never read 'Thor' comics as a kid. That was the comic I'd pick up and be like 'Ugh'. And then I did some research on it, and I read one 'Thor' comic or 18 pages, or however long they are."

Taika also suggested that Marvel reaching out to him implied that they were unsure about what to do next with the franchise.

He explained: "I think there was no place left for them to go with that. I thought, 'Well, they've called me in, this is really the bottom of the barrel.'"

Meanwhile, Waititi explained that he is unlikely to be involved in the next 'Thor' movie as he has a variety of other projects to focus on – including a new 'Star Wars' picture.

He told Insider: "I know that I won't be involved. I'm going to concentrate on these other films that I've signed on for. So that's six, seven years gone. I'd imagine another 'Thor' would be a lot sooner than that.

"But I love Marvel, I love working with them. I love Chris (Hemsworth). We're in an open relationship and it's like, if they want to see other people I'm happy for that. I'd still get back into bed with them one day."