Indie comedy director Taika Waititi was given the full reign by Marvel when he took over Thor: Ragnarok, so much so that he can confidently claim that it is “eighty-percent improvised or ad-libbed” — most likely a staggering record for any Marvel film, future or past.
Waititi revealed this major tidbit while at San Diego Comic Con this past weekend promoting the film and premiering its brand-new uproarious and technicolor trailer. Speaking with MTV News, he said, “With a film like this, you want it to be fun. I’m trying to bring the tone and sensibility of my other films” and “foster a very loose and collaborative mood on set.” Building on the truth of this statement, Waititi admitted, “I’ll straight up give Anthony Hopkins (Odin) a line reading, I don’t care.”
From the trailers alone, it has already been evidently clear of Waititi’s influence on the series, forgoing the dark tones of previous films in favor of highlighting the more light-hearted and comedic sides of Thor (Chris Hemsworth). The film won’t escape darkness completely, though — that is what Cate Blanchett is there for as Hela, the Goddess of Death and the bringer of “Ragnarok”, a.k.a the end of days.
Fans are undoubtedly excited to see how this change of pace will affect the film and bring it into the canon of the Thor series. If anything will leave us scratching our heads and wanting more, though, it’s Waititi’s reveal of how “Mark Ruffalo (The Hulk) would be finished shooting for the day, and he’d come up to me and he’d be like, ‘Why have we not been fired yet? We are doing the most insane stuff in this film, so where’s the phone call?'”
All will be revealed on November 3 when Thor: Ragnarok hits theaters. Check out the full interview here.
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