Thor and Thor: The Dark World don’t top a lot of people’s lists of favorite MCU films. Personally, I’ve always felt like they fail to capture the fantastical elements of comics, especially those of Walt Simonson. Thor: Ragnarok, though, seems like it’s definitely going to break that trend as it looks to be as “out there” of a film as the MCU has seen.
Yesterday, we got our first look at exactly what the visuals of the film will entail, and it’s living up to our wildest dreams with bright colors and all of the craziness we were hoping for. Now, thanks to Entertainment Weekly’s coverage of Ragnarok, we’re finally getting a good idea of what this film will be about:
When we last saw Thor, he was flying off to figure out who was manipulating the Avengers at the end of Age of Ultron. Eventually, he hears rumblings of trouble in Asgard: His evil brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), has been impersonating their missing father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins). Loki’s rather lax governing leads to the reemergence of an imprisoned Hela (Cate Blanchett). Thor’s initial encounter with Hela gets him blasted to Sakaar, a barbaric planet ruled by the charming but nefarious Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum). Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), a tough, hard-drinking warrior hiding out on Sakaar brings the god to the Grandmaster…Thor is then forced into becoming a gladiator, which leads to his haircut and the loss of his trusty hammer.
So far, this matches what we learned yesterday about Thor ending up on Sakaar and being forced to fight in gladiator matches. However, this is the first time we’ve learned the circumstances of how Thor and Valkyrie will meet. In the comics, Valkyrie is the leader of a group of warrior goddesses selected by Odin. It seems as though her backstory will be changed somewhat for the film. However, according to Chris Hemsworth, Thor’s still a fan:
“Thor is a bit of a fanboy for the Valkyrie, the elite women warriors”
Once Thor becomes a gladiator, he’ll reunite with a familiar face, the most popular and successful gladiator on Sakaar: Bruce Banner. How Hulk wound up on Sakaar is still a mystery, but the not-so-Jolly Green Giant’s time on the alien planet has apparently changed him, according to Mark Ruffalo:
“He’s much more of a character than the green rage machine you’ve seen in the Avengers movies…He’s got a swagger. He’s like a god.”
EW continues to describe Ragnarok‘s story:
Once Thor and Hulk unite, Ragnarok becomes a sort of road-trip film, with director Taika Waititi drawing inspiration from movies like 48 HRS., Withnail and I, and even Planes, Trains and Automobiles. The director particularly wanted to show off Hemsworth’s comedic abilities, only recently exploited in films like Vacation and Ghostbusters. “He’s so good and underutilized in that department,” Waititi says. “He’s legitimately one of the funniest things in this film.”
Still unclear is how the post-credits scene from Doctor Strange will fit into the movie. Considering Thor’s long golden locks in his Strange scene, many fans assumed that the events on Earth would take place before Thor wound up on Sakaar. Not so, apparently, as Strange will come into play in a brief scene on Earth a bit later in the film. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige teased Strange’s appearance:
There’s not a whole lot that takes place on Earth in this film, and that’s one of the things that does.
I don’t know about you, but this sounds like an absolute blast, and Ragnarok just jumped way up on my list of films to be excited for this year. Director Taika Watiti further teases that while Thor: Ragnarok will do a lot of heavy lifting to set up for Avengers: Infinity War, it will also shake up the Thor franchise:
“A lot of what we’re doing with the film is, in a way, kind of dismantling and destroying the old idea and rebuilding it in a new way that’s fresh…Everyone’s got a slightly new take on their characters, so in that way, it feels like [this is] the first Thor.”
Thor: Ragnarok is set to release in theaters on November 3rd, 2017. Now, where’s that trailer?
Source: EW
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