Posted in: Marvel Studios, Movies | Tagged: film, marvel, Thor: Ragnarok

[SPOILERS] Taika Waititi Talks Asgard, Marvel Pressure, And The "Get Help" Gag In Thor: Ragnarok

Now that Thor: Ragnarok is out which means it's time to talk spoilers. Director Taika Waititi talks a bunch of them in the latest issue of Empire and also covers such things as the pressure of making a Marvel movie and other such details. Some of those details are major spoilers though so come back after you've seen the movie.

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One of the biggest surprises in Thor: Ragnarok was the fact that, to an extent, the bad guys won. To destroy Hela Thor allowed the demon Surtur to destroy all of Asgard.

"There was a little bit of talk in the beginning: 'Is it too much to destroy Asgard?'" says Waititi. "But no! The more spectacle, the better. I think it's what a lot of the fans wanted. Fulfilling the mythological idea of the death of Asgard." 'Twas not ever thus. There were "a couple of moments, right at the beginning" of the script phases where Asgard was saved; another version of the story saw the final battle in Valhalla, the Asgardian heaven. "We had this big showdown there. That idea only lasted a couple of weeks."

Waititi doesn't seem to regret destroying all of Asgard though.

"I wasn't really that keen on what Asgard looks like," he says. "Seems like quite a privileged place. Completely made of gold. Full of nerds and scholars. Doesn't seem like my kind of party town."

There was a great moment in the movie where Thor limps into a room with Loki hanging off of his shoulder yelling "get help". Then he throws Loki into his enemies. It's hilarious and one of those brother moments that feels all too true to the relationship. It turns out that was all star Chris Hemsworth.

"That was his idea," reveals Waititi. "There's a lot in things in the film which have come straight from his input. I'm very lucky to have someone around who's very invested in the emotionality of the scenes, but wants to have fun."

When it comes to joining something like the Marvel Cinematic Universe there must be pressure but Waititi took it all in stride.

"You do have to acknowledge they exist." He pauses before deadpanning: "In interviews." The pressure of joining a billion dollar franchise certainly entered Waititi's consideration, and he admits to wondering: "'Am I the Jenga block? Am I pulling that one Jenga block that's going to topple the entire empire? I think early on I just decided I don't care."

Waititi decided that just making the best possible movie was the way to go and Marvel seemed keen to allowed him to do it.

"[Simply] to make the best movie possible and hopefully they'll help me steer the ship. I'm captaining a ship and blindly steering to whatever sparkly cool-looking thing I can, not realising most of those things are icebergs. Marvel are the ones with their hands on the wheel going 'Just move over this way, between those icebergs?'"

Finally, though this isn't really a spoiler, but apparently Hemsworth wasn't so excited about having to take off his shirt.

"He wasn't at all up for that," says Waititi. "What's the point of working out so hard and spending all of these years crafting this perfect thing? It's a crime to deprive humanity of at least seven shots in a row of those abdominals."

Thank you for taking a stand for something important, Mr. Waititi.

Summary: Imprisoned, the mighty Thor finds himself in a lethal gladiatorial contest against the Hulk, his former ally. Thor must fight for survival and race against time to prevent the all-powerful Hela from destroying his home and the Asgardian civilization.

Thor: Ragnarok, directed by Taika Waititi, stars Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, Idris Elba, and Mark Ruffalo. Check it out in theaters now.

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