Taika Waititi is working with Disney to bring an animated Flash Gordon movie to the big screen. Details are scarce at the moment, but it is believed Waititi is on board to write and direct the project. Fox was reportedly trying to develop a live-action take for years, but it looks like it is finally moving forward as an animated feature now that it is in Disney's hands. Waititi is now in the post-production phase for his upcoming comedy Jojo Rabbit, which is due to hit theaters later this year.

Kingsman's Matthew Vaughn and Overlord director Julius Avery have been attached to various Flash Gordon projects over the years, but nothing obviously ever came of those iterations. Taika Waititi should be able to do something pretty interesting with the property, especially in the animated realm. The character has been in pop culture a lot recently, thanks to Seth MacFarlane's Ted movies and has become a cult favorite after a pretty cheesy movie in 1980. Not even a soundtrack by rock group Queen was able to help that live-action version when it came to being a hit at the box office, though the theme song has proved to be quite memorable.

It is believed Taika Waititi's Flash Gordon movie will tackle the origins of the hero. The character was created in 1934 as a science fiction comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond. The comic strip was meant to compete with Buck Rogers. Over the years, the character has had several TV shows and different comic strips. While the 1980 Flash Gordon movie isn't the greatest sci-fi adventure of all time by any means, it has gained a significant cult audience since it hit theaters nearly 40 years ago. Will Waititi bring someone in to do a cover of the Queen theme song? One can only hope.

While Taika Waititi is certainly busy these days, thanks to his work on Thor: Ragnarok, The Mandalorian, Jojo Rabbit, What We Do in the Shadows, and more, his schedule did just open up a bit. The director was originally attached to helm Bubbles, a Netflix stop motion project based on Michael Jackson's chimpanzee. While Waititi left the project due to "scheduling conflicts," it is widely believed the project has been put on the backburner after HBO's Leaving Neverland documentary came out with multiple allegations of child molestation.

Flash Gordon will be a completely different project for Taika Waititi and one has to wonder what he will do with the seemingly limitless possibilities of working in the animated realm. Thor: Ragnarok was a colorful blast of energy that at times strongly resembled an animated movie. Regardless, Waititi is sure to do something different and unique with the Disney property and Flash Gordon fans are more than likely just happy to know that there is some forward movement with the project after years of waiting for Fox to do something. Deadline was the first to report about the Taika Waititi and Flash Gordon news.