When moviegoers and Marvel fans first saw the first sneak peek of the upcoming "Thor: Ragnarok," they were taken aback at Thor's seemingly newfound humor. Compared to the previous "Thor" films, the upcoming "Ragnarok" seemed more alike with James Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise, which was heavy on the comedy, but not lacking in the action. "Ragnarok" featured brighter colors and definitely more humor, something that director Taika Waititi purposefully executed in the upcoming film. Gone was the serious, brooding Thor from "The Dark World," and the naive Thor from his self-titled first flick.
Kevin Feige recently spoke about the new direction Marvel took for the upcoming film how they took a comedic "shift" in the "tonal gears" of the Chris Hemsworth-led movie.
How the new Thor connects to the previous films
The titular character in "Thor: Ragnarok" isn't an entirely new character. In fact, he's still the same Thor, just with a new haircut. Kevin Feige spoke to io9 to explain that this version of Thor from director Taika Waititi "takes a little page out of the little moments in the other Thor films where [Chris] Hemsworth is funny." Such funny moments include the one from the first movie, where he smashes a mug to express that he wants another cup of coffee, or the moment in "The Dark World" when he hung up the Mjolnir on a coat hook.
At the same time, the producers also saw Hemsworth's comedic talents, which he did show off in his other films such as "Ghostbusters" (2016) and "Vacation" (2015).
Kevin Feige on Chris Hemsworth comedic talents
According to Kevin Feige, he and the rest of Marvel saw that comedic talent in Chris Hemsworth, who asked them if they could also pepper in more comedy into the upcoming "Thor: Ragnarok." Feige explained that at the beginning of creating the third film, they decided to "construct the movie around that version of Thor," which later became "an opportunity to shift tonal gears."
Setting itself apart from the previous films
"Thor: Ragnarok" is gearing up to set itself apart from the previous "Thor" films, which were directed by Kenneth Branagh and Alan Taylor, respectively.
Taika Waititi recently explained that his approach to the upcoming film was to look at it as a standalone film and not just "Thor 3." But aside from the comedy, the film is also set to introduce the first ever female Marvel villain in the form of Hela, played by Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett. The film opens on November 3.
