Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- To accurately portray their role in Thor: Ragnarok, Chris Hemsworth spent weeks conducting hands-on research and rehearsing directly with director Taika Waititi.
- Despite initial studio skepticism, Thor: Ragnarok went on to gross over $855,000,000 worldwide.
Thor: Ragnarok is a 2017 American superhero film directed by Taika Waititi, the third installment in the Thor series within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film finds Thor imprisoned on the planet Sakaar after the Asgardian Goddess of Death, Hela β played by Cate Blanchett β destroys his hammer Mjolnir and conquers Asgard. Forced into gladiatorial combat by the eccentric Grandmaster, played by Jeff Goldblum, Thor encounters his old colleague the Hulk and must assemble a team of unlikely allies to save his homeland from destruction.
Taika Waititi's appointment as director represented a radical creative reinvention of the Thor franchise, which had struggled to establish a consistent identity in its first two installments. Waititi, a New Zealand filmmaker known for quirky independent comedies like What We Do in the Shadows, infused Ragnarok with an irreverent, improvisational humor and a vibrant 1980s-inspired visual aesthetic featuring neon colors and a synthesizer-heavy score by Mark Mothersbaugh. Much of the film's dialogue was improvised, a departure from the typically scripted Marvel formula.
The result was the most critically acclaimed Thor film and one of the highest-rated MCU entries overall. Cate Blanchett brought genuine menace and theatrical grandeur to Hela, while Tessa Thompson's introduction as the hard-drinking Valkyrie added a popular new character to the franchise. The film earned $854 million worldwide.
Waititi also provided the voice and motion capture for Korg, a gentle rock creature who became an instant fan favorite and exemplified the film's ability to find humor in unexpected places.
