Marvel is working hard to keep the superhero genre fatigue from setting in this year with films like Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy and Spider-Man: Homecoming, and with the latest look at Thor: Ragnarok’s trailer at Comic-Con, they are staying right on track.
Rather than getting lazy, they’re continuing to grind out some pretty ambitious movies, and Thor: Ragnarok definitely doesn’t look like a retread of the prior Thor films. Actually, it doesn’t resemble either of them. Director Taika Waititi is proving to be a very smart choice to helm this big-budget ‘God of Thunder’ film. There’s a wonderfully dry, yet broad sense of humor that fits the big oaf of a hero.
At Saturday’s Comic-Con, we were given a nice look at the official trailer with director Taika Waititi, Kevin Feige and the cast (Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Jeff Goldblum, Cate Blanchett, Karl Urban, Rachel House and Tessa Thompson)
Highlights from the panel for Thor: Ragnarok:
- Hemsworth on the changes to Thor’s look (shorter hair, no hammer): “Thor’s having a midlife crisis…. I’ve played this character five times so — I thought if we’re going to make another Thor film, there needs to be some changes not just to [Thor]…. but to the whole Marvel universe.”
- Per Hemsworth: “Thor gets his ass kicked in this movie.”
- What’s up with Loki? Per Hiddleston – Loki has directed most of his energy into narcissistic self-gains (after taking over Asgard under the guise of Odin). This naturally has plunged the kingdom into debt and chaos, making it vulnerable to Hela
- What’s Hulk up to in Thor: Ragnarok? Hulk refuses to change now into Banner. He’s given up on his ‘weaker’ alter ego. He really enjoys his time battling in the arenas because he “gets to kick some A.” Per Ruffalo – ‘He’ll be damned if he has to go back to being Banner.”
- Ruffalo drops a bomb:“He’s been Hulk now for two years – so he has his own vocabulary.” That’s right – Thor: Ragnarok features a SPEAKING HULK!
- Jeff Goldblum on his character The Grandmaster: “I’m playing The Collector’s brother… We’re very old. We came into being shortly after the big bang.”
- Taika Waititi previews some new footage – featuring his character Korg, an alien made of rocks. The footage is INSANE. A brief recap below. We start with a homage to Willy Wonka’s crazy boat ride from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Thor wakes up dreary, chained to a chair. A voice tells him “Fear not for you are found.” The voice tries to convince Thor there is nowhere he can go and that he should give into The Grandmaster. The voice tells him, “No one leaves this place – Sakaar.” Thor travels through a bunch of freaky/trippy holographic images a la Willy Wonka; He screams at the top of his lungs helplessly – Hemsworth in good ham mode. Cut to Thor sitting in a throne room in front of The Grandmaster. The Grandmaster haggles over the price of Thor with Valkyrie, looking him over, coming to the conclusion — “He’s wonderful.” Sold.
Official synopsis for Thor: Ragnarok
In Marvel Studios’ “Thor: Ragnarok,” Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok—the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization—at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. But first, he must survive a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger—the Incredible Hulk! “Thor: Ragnarok” thunders into U.S. theaters on November 3, 2017.