Grant Hermanns Explores Brawl Stars' New Character Najia and Collaboration with Taika Waititi
By Published Apr 1, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT Grant Hermanns is a TV News Editor, Interview Host and Reviewer for ScreenRant, having joined the team in early 2026. He got his start in the industry with Moviepilot, followed by working at ComingSoon.net. When not indulging in his love of film/TV, Grant is making his way through his gaming backlog and exploring the world of Dungeons & Dragons with friends. follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
has taken his love for Brawl Stars to the next level by helping introduce the game's newest fighter.
Developed and published by Supercell, the studio behind and Clash Royale franchises, the multiplayer online battle arena offers players the opportunity to battle against each other, AI opponents or with each other against PvE bosses. Having launched in late 2018, the game has expanded to include nearly a dozen different game modes, ranging from a battle-royale-style showdown to the soccer-like Brawl Ball, and 100 different brawlers.
That was, however, until the addition of Najia, the 101st Brawler in , who made her debut on April 1. With a largely mysterious backstory, Najia is a puzzle-obsessed resident of the ancient attraction, Pyramid Quest, located within the game's Starr Park setting, where she developed a frenemy relationship with Finx, and has a habit of rescuing those who stumble into the place's time-warping puzzles.
As for the game itself, Najia is a powerful Mythic Damage Dealer who specializes in wearing down opponents from range, utilizing her main attack, Ssssnake Delivery, in which she first a jar that releases a paper snake on impact that poisons the foe over time. Additionally, her Super ability, Danger Noodles, sends three paper snakes at enemies, similarly creating a poison effect on those in their path.
In honor of the character's debut, Taika Waititi has teamed with Supercell for a special Brawl Stars animated short introducing Najia to the fold, which ScreenRant's Grant Hermanns interviewed the Oscar winner for. When asked about getting to bring his unique tone to the world of the game, the filmmaker knew "we were going to get on really early on in the process" after watching some of Supercell's previous shorts for the MOBA.
More specifically, Waititi pointed out the "Starr Park Investor Video" released five years ago, describing it as "really dark and twisted" and having marveled at how it "just gets weirder and weirder." Recognizing that the creatives at Supercell have "the same sensibility as me," the then began working closely with the Brawl Stars team in order to figure out what exactly they wanted from the short before getting to work writing:
Taika Waititi: I had to figure out what they really wanted, because I could come up with any idea at all, but a lot of my ideas might not have been right. So we just talked a lot about what the character was, what the world was that they were trying to put her into with Finks. And then they said there's no real limit on how long it needs to be. So, I just started writing, and I like character stuff when there's a bit of background, and they're mysterious, and it's told from someone else meeting them.
In looking at finding the right balance about how much of Najia's backstory to reveal in the Brawl Stars short, Waititi confessed that "I overwrote that part" in it. He further shared that the original script was "about six or seven pages" that included "a bunch of different things from her childhood," which he chuckled as he described being "a nice, traumatic childhood," only for Supercell to step in and say, "Let's just chill out on that for a second":
Taika Waititi: "We just want to talk about the puzzles, and how she's always been obsessed with puzzles, and doesn't talk much, and has been in her own world, and has finally found a place that she feels at home." But that's a real fun thing to do just when you're writing, anyways, to just make up things and then test it with the creators and say, "Does this fit in about where we're going?" It's really great having them to work with, because they can help guide me based on what they know and what they want to reveal.
Waititi's Love For Brawl Stars Began From A Very Sweet Place
ScreenRant: This Brawl Stars ad is such a rad time. I love that you are such a big fan of that property. When did the love for that game really first come about for you?
Taika Waititi: It was actually a couple of years ago, about a year and a half ago. Rita [Ora]'s brother, Don, is very deep into all things gaming, and he introduced me to it. I've played games all my life, video games. I grew up in the '80s when mostly, in New Zealand, to play a video game, you had to go into the city, you had to go into town and play in an arcade. Then, little by little, people would get Nintendos and things in their homes, so I'd always had love for games. I had never really got fully into it where I would disappear for days in a dark room, but always had a respect for the community, I suppose. And then, when this came along, and when I was introduced to Brawl Stars, I'd already been a big fan of Clash of Clans years ago. I obsessed over that game. And then, I just went off and made films and things and didn't have much time for it. Then Don introduced me to Brawl Stars, and because he knew some people at Supercell, we started talking about things, and they expressed a desire to collaborate and maybe make something. Over about a year or so of back and forth, eventually we finally came up with an idea to do something for the release of this new character.
ScreenRant: You've always been in the world of very unique commercials and advertisements, but this comes literally right on the heels of . I'd love to hear what it's been like getting back into that field, and doing such a wide range of ideas this past couple of years.
Taika Waititi: Yeah, it was three this year, maybe it was even three last year, too. I've found them really fun. I'd gotten into advertising quite late, I think, after my second feature. I sort of did it the other way around. A lot of directors start off in ads, and then I think they find it a harder transition to get into filmmaking, because on ads, you're spoiled. You get to use all of the fun toys and stuff. And when you first start making films, you've got no money, and you're making a crane out of bits of wood and bits of string. [Chuckles] So, I got into ads after making a few films, and it was so fun because I was like, "Oh man, this is a chance in between films for me to be on set all the time and to just get to keep those muscles active." So, I've really enjoyed always just being on set. I get to use the same crews and just keep the practice up. And with the Super Bowl ads, that's everyone's dream, I think, in that part of the industry is to do an ad on the Super Bowl, because it's the most viewership, and they're judged, and people love to watch them. Sometimes, it's the reason people watch the Super Bowl — sometimes, not me, I love sports. And getting to do some repeat business with the same companies that's been good with PepsiCo and Lay's.
ScreenRant: What is one of the big things you're really excited for people to embrace when Najia gets added to the game?
Taika Waititi: Oh, boy. Okay. Well, I guess because I've been so deep into film, I had not really understood just how vast and deep the gaming world universe goes. It was a real eye-opener just to realize just how many people play these games, and how immersed you can get, and how deep the worlds go. I was talking to a friend of mine who was explaining to me, because I don't play enough or do enough background research on everything to understand the intricacies of everything, and how each character is related. I'm like, "I just want a distraction. This is really fun." And now I get to play with my kids, as well. So, I'm as excited as my brother-in-law is excited. He was really just over the moon with how this went, and just how people have responded to the film, and to this new character. I just had no idea, really. It's fun to do something that's not a film, but it is kind of a film, but it's to do with this world. So, yeah, I'm excited to get myself a little bit more into this world, because I'd like to do more work with Supercell, and I'd like to do some more stuff within the space, because it's just something that's really unexplored for me.
Najia is now available to acquire in Brawl Stars, which is free-to-play on Apple iOS, Android and Google Play!
Supercell's mobile hit throws you into quick fire matches where a roster of unlockable Brawlers brings unique attacks, Super abilities, and playstyles. You can queue solo or with friends for tight arena brawls, including team-based 3v3 modes and the battle royale style, Showdown.
Platform(s) iOS, Android Genre(s) Shooter, Action RPG, Expand Collapse
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