After portraying Thor in two solo films and two Avengers films, star Chris Hemsworth had begun to grow weary with the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Norse God of Thunder. As pre-production began on Thor: Ragnarok, the third solo MCU film to focus on the character, New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi was brought on to helm the production. Known primarily for comedic work, including the horror comedy What We Do in the Shadows, Waititi would not only completely reinterpret the MCU property in terms of tone but firmly integrate Thor into the cosmic side of the shared cinematic universe.
With the redefined Thor poised to make his return in this week's Avengers: Endgame and new reports that a fourth solo Thor film may be in development with Waititi once again attached, here's an overview of how Waititi's 2017 film reinvigorated its star and informed the character's future in the MCU.
A New God of Thunder
Hemsworth's experience making Thor: The Dark World had left the actor "exhausted and underwhelmed," unsatisfied with the film's attempts to blend humor, superhero action, and dark fantasy while frustrated with his character becoming less fun than he had been in the 2011 original film.
Approaching Ragnarok, Hemsworth wanted to take big risks with the story and character; changing things up drastically while making the property fun again, citing a desire to echo the irreverent tone of 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy.
In taking the job to direct Ragnarok, Waititi's own hopes for the film largely matched Hemsworth's. Waititi wanted to make the film feel very much his own rather than an impersonal project and instilling a sense of risk and deconstruction that had been present in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Just as the Captain America sequel had completely dismantled the Earth's unifying intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D., the Thor sequel would obliterate the Asgardian Avenger's home and signature mystical hammer; in essence, breaking down and deconstructing the character himself by stripping away all the trappings around him.
Thor Goes Cosmic (and Fights the Hulk)
To carry forward with the themes of stripping away the familiar elements from the previous two Thor films, the filmmakers decided to place the character primarily on the new alien world of Sakaar rather than in his usual comfort zones of Asgard or Earth.
While Thor would gain a new ally in Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie, the gladiatorial alien setting made the decision to include the Hulk "a no-brainer" for the film's plot. Now teamed with a fellow Avenger for a significant portion of the movie, Waititi decided to draw on buddy-road trip films such as 48 Hrs. and Planes, Trains and Automobiles for inspiration in developing the dynamic between Thor and Hulk/Bruce Banner; just as Waititi was keen on showcasing Hemsworth's comedic abilities, Mark Ruffalo would similarly deliver his most comical performance in the MCU in the film.
Whereas both Guardians of the Galaxy films had worn its 80s influences on their sleeve, Waititi imagined a vision of Sakaar that relied less on retro pop culture references and more in the visual and tonal sensibilities. The sets and alien characters were heavily influenced by Thor co-creator Jack Kirby, with its striking color and audacious design, as well as the 1980 film Flash Gordon with Waititi having each of the department heads behind the production watch the film for inspiration.
With regards to Hemsworth's own performance, Waititi compared the film and character the most with the 1986 John Carpenter film Big Trouble in Little China. The fantasy-action film influenced Waititi significantly during production with Waititi strongly encouraging the cast to improvise dialogue to match the 1986 film's light-hearted, natural tone.
To Infinity War and Beyond
Of course, the changes made to Thor would not be immediately ignored five months later with the release of Avengers: Infinity War. To ensure that the new direction for the character would be reflected in the future film, Hemsworth, Waititi, and Ragnarok writer Eric Pearson would regularly meet with Infinity War writers Stephen Markus and Chris McFeely to discuss the character and showed the screenwriters early footage from the film. This carried over to the final film, reflected in Thor's dialogue without compromising the stakes of the story or character.
After the first two Guardians of the Galaxy films, it seemed that the cosmic side of the MCU would only be seen through the team's perspective and informed by filmmaker James Gunn. Thor: Ragnarok would expand the deep space elements of the shared cinematic universe while deeply instilling a myriad of influences that did not overtly rely on pop culture references like Gunn's films. With hints from the cast and filmmaker Taika Waititi that they would like to regroup and create a fourth Thor film, this weird, wacky side of the cosmic MCU may very well make a return to the big screen and be further expanded on.