Posted in: Movies | Tagged: big trouble in little china, chris hemsworth, entertainment, film, marvel, taika waititi, Thor: Ragnarok

Big Trouble In Little Asgard – Taika Waititi Talks The Tone Of Thor: Ragnarok

Let's face it, as the Marvel Cinematic Universe goes, Thor isn't really the heavy hitter. The first Thor brought in $181 million and Thor: The Dark World cleared $206 million. This puts them in 10th and 11th place among the 14 films Marvel has released so far… beating out Ant-Man, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Incredible Hulk.  Of the different franchises in the MCU, it wasn't necessarily the one fans have been clamoring for a sequel to.

But we're getting one anyways… and after some recent coverage by EW.com, I may be more excited for Thor: Ragnarok than Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 or Spider-Man: Homecoming.

The basic plot has been talked about… And if you don't want to know it then don't read between the Spoiler marks.

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Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is a bit lax as a ruler having taken on the guise of Odin (Anthony Hopkins) which has allowed Hela (Cate Blanchett) to escape. Hela sens Thor (Chris Hemsworth) to the planet Sakaar that is run by the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) and is forced to be a gladiator and eventually team up with the Hulk / Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo). And we know Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) pops up somewhere. My rough understanding of Norse mythology is that Loki starts Ragnarok (the end of the world) by killing Baldur (a character we haven't met yet) which eventually leads to the releasing of the giant wolf Fenris… but I have a feeling we'll get a Marvel variation on that. But the film seems to take the fan-favorite Planet Hulk story and squeeze it into a Thor movie.

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I like the above concept, but I always thought that the tone of the Thor movies was very different than any of the other Marvel films. Like trying to connect John Wick and Lord of the Rings into the same universe. What the Thor movies needed was to be a bit more fun. That's something director Taiki Waititi seems to be addressing. But he's also not turning it into a straight out comedy.

There are some really great moments we're going to have in the film. Knowing that it was Bruce Banner and Thor on kind of a road trip journey, that lends itself to a tone because those guys are both really funny. I was like you gotta exploit Chris' comic abilities. He's so good and underutilized in that department. He's legitimately one of the funniest things in this film.

Tone wise, Waititi compares his first film in the MCU to the cult-classic John Carpenter film Big Trouble In Little China. He even mentioned the film when he was pitching his Thor concept to Marvel.

Big Trouble in Little China was one of those films where Jack Burton is a buffoon but he's lovable and you're with him the entire way. I thought Thor has got to be the one you want to be with in every scene.

I don't think he means that Thor is going to be a buffoon in this film. But we saw the tip of what a Thor / Hulk dynamic could be during the first Avengers. I think pairing the two up again could provide not only some awesome action moments, but some really good comedic beats if done right. This sounds like and interesting tone for a Thor movie and I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Thor: Ragnarok is in theaters on November 3rd.

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