Following Captain America: Civil War and Doctor Strange in 2016 and the arrival of Guardians Of The Galaxy 2 in May 2017, the next Marvel Cinematic Universe movie on the cards is a return to Norse mythology-meets-superhero with Thor: Ragnarok. It will be the big summer release for Marvel and for comic book fans you should have a pretty good idea of what to expect with the merest mention of Ragnarök, which is a lot less inanimate than it sounds.
The trailer below has picked up a lot of attention with it’s dark enemy, Hela, and her destruction of Thor’s hammer Mjolnir. However, it’s the addition of Hulk into the story that has got fans most excited as there’s going to be a monumental gladiatorial fight between the two hot heads, as well as some funny conversations between them.
Release date
Thor: Ragnarok has been confirmed for a UK release date of 24th October 2017, a little ahead of its arrival in the US on the 3rd November 2017. It’s got a pretty clear window in the UK box office with just horror flick Jigsaw and drama Breath out in the same week.
The DVD, Blu-ray and digital download won’t be arriving until 2018 with February looking the most likely for the home entertainment release.
Story
Even before the official movie synopsis and trailer arrived, there was plenty to go on for the story from the name alone. Ragnarök is the Norse equivalent of the apocalypse, so there was always going to be some pretty cataclysmic events to take place as the film.
In the comic books Ragnarök is a genetically engineered cybernetic double of Thor, which first appeared in Civil War #3 in July 2006, created by Marvel writers, Mark Millar and Steve Mcniven. However, this doesn’t seem to be the direction the film has taken with Thor having to face Hela, the goddess of death, who is the source of the apocalyptic tide sweeping in the general direction of Mjolnir.
Loki will be back in the thick of it all too. Having shown himself impersonating Odin at the end of Thor: The Dark World, it’s going to be interesting to see where his allegiances lie with Ragnarök on the warpath. You can see him in the trailer joining forces with Thor and his team, but you never know with him.
Cast
Continuing on from the previous movies in the series, Chris Hemsworth (Avengers: Infinity Stone – Part I) will be back as Thor, Tom Hiddleston (The Night Manager) is in and among the fray as Loki, Anthony Hopkins takes on the role of Odin as usual and Idris Elba (The Mountain Between Us) will be on the gate yet again as Heimdall. Jamie Alexander (Thor: The Dark World) returns as Thor’s childhood friend Sif too.
New additions to the cast include Cate Blachett (Carol) as new villain Hela, Tessa Thomson (Creed) joins as Valkyrie, Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) will be transforming into the Grandmaster and Karl Urban (Star Trek: Beyond) gets in on the action as Skurge.
Superhero cross-overs appear to be the order of the day for Marvel at the moment and Thor: Ragnarok will tap into the success of this too as Mark Ruffalo (Avengers: Age Of Ultron) joins the cast as Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk.
Age rating
Thor: Ragnarok has been given an age rating of 12A by the British Board Of Film Classification with moderate fantasy violence.
Production
Filming began in Queensland, Australia in June 2016, following an extensive pre-production period in the massive Aussie state. The movie was announced officially by Marvel on the 28th October 2014 and it will be directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Taika Waititi. Kevin Feige will be taking care of the producer responsibilities as ever, and Louis D’Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, Victoria Alonso, Thomas M. Hammel and Stan Lee are down as the executive producers. You can see more from the production on the official Twitter page.
First impressions
The idea of a hero’s greatest enemy being himself has been a good source of movie magic over the years, whether it’s Superman’s bad self in the third entry in the brilliant Christopher Reeve series or Ray’s choice of the Stay Puffed Marsh-mellow Man in Ghostbusters. It’s a shame this isn’t the direction the film has taken from the look of the trailer, but Thor: Ragnarok appears to be coming together pretty well ahead of the UK release date.
He’ll have the battle with Hulk, tango with The Grandmaster and the might of Hela’s Ragnarök, so there should be plenty to keep him bust. Throw in a little end of the world fear factor, Loki’s return, some Infinity Stone magic and the potential link to Avengers: Infinity Stone – Part I and you’ve got a lot of movie magic.
