FILM · 2017 · USA
Thor: Ragnarok
- Directed by
- Taika Waititi
- Runtime
- 131 min
- Studio
- Marvel Studios
282 archived facts 7 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Nov 2026
Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok, the destruction of his home-world and the end of Asgardian civilization, at the hands of a powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela.
282 Interesting Facts About Thor: Ragnarok
Interesting Facts (77)
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As of this film, there have been nine different MCU cast members that were both born in same years but were in separate months apart from each other: * 1978 - Zoe Saldaña (Gamora) was born on June 19th and Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson) was born on September 23rd. * 1981 - Tom Hiddleston (Loki) was born on February 9th, and both Natalie Portman (Jane Foster) and Chris Evans (Steve Rogers) were born in June but four days apart. * 1982 - Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter) was born on April 5th and Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes) was born on August 13th. * 1983 - Chris Hemsworth (Thor Odinson) was born on August 11th and Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie) was born on October 3rd.
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The Grandmaster's (Jeff Goldblum's) tower features statues of his champions, notable figures from Marvel comics: the alien being Beta Ray Bill (top left), the supernatural entity Man-Thing (top centre), the Greek god Ares (top right), the android monster the Bi-Beast (bottom right), the alien Fin Fan Foom (bottom centre), and The Night-Crawler (bottom left). Note that 'The Night-Crawler' is not to be confused with 'Nightcrawler' from the X-Men story lines.
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Director Taika Waititi described this movie as a "1970s and 80s science fiction fantasy, the most 'out there' of all of the Marvel movies." He cited Big Trouble in Little China (1986) as a major influence on this movie: "It's a fun adventure film that has big stakes, but also has a breakneck speed and takes you on a crazy adventure."
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In addition to his credited role as the voice of Korg, director Taika Waititi told Empire Magazine that he also played two other roles in this movie: "I am one of the heads on the three-headed alien, this character called Haju. I'm the head on the right. And I'm also the motion-capture for Surtur." Clancy Brown performed the voice of Surtur.
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Director Taika Waititi felt that despite the events of this movie setting up Avengers: Infinity War (2018), this movie would not only stand on its own, but reinvent the franchise: "A lot of what we're doing with the film is, in a way, dismantling and destroying the old idea and rebuilding it in a new way that's fresh. Everyone's got a slightly new take on their characters, so in that way, it feels like Thor (2011)."
- #020
The filmmakers cite Big Trouble in Little China (1986)'s Jack Burton (Kurt Russell) as an influence on Thor (Chris Hemsworth): "What's the version of Thor just wanting to get his truck back? He's the one looking at the world and bringing a certain sarcasm and irony to this cosmic landscape."
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(at around 40 mins) In The Avengers (2012), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) tells everyone on the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier "Loki is an Asgardian and my brother!" Natasha states "He's killed eighty people!" Thor deadpan face retorts immediately "He's adopted." Loki (Tom Hiddleston) gets to do the same to Thor as The Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) turns to him when Thor states "Loki is an Asgardian and my brother!" to which Loki retorts immediately "Adopted brother!"
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If you thought Sir Anthony Hopkins's role as Odin in this movie seemed a bit small, there's a reason for that: his scenes were drastically changed after test audiences reacted poorly. In a new interview, director Taika Waititi confirms that the original plan for Odin bothered early test audiences, resulting in a drastic change.
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(at around 35 mins) This movie contains homages to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971). When Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is being brought to meet The Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), he is being driven through a brightly colored passageway. During this segment the "Pure Imagination" theme from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) can be heard. In that film, the contest winners take a ferry ride through a colorful tunnel shortly after meeting Willy Wonka. The Grandmaster is reminiscent of Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder), in that both men are eccentric leaders of their own colorful and often confusing labyrinthine domains.
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(at around 38 mins) The Grandmaster's (Jeff Goldblum's) cousin Carlo (Steven Oliver), who got melted, is named after comic book artist Carlo Pagulayan. He created the character Korg, and was responsible along with writer Greg Pak for The Incredible Hulk comics between 2006 and 2007, and the Planet Hulk storyline. Both of them were given a special mention of thanks at the closing credits.
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Taika Waititi feels Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" is just perfect for the film. "As a young Taika growing up in New Zealand in the 80s, if you were to say to me 'One day you're going to use one of the greatest songs ever in the history of everness in a movie about Thor the god of thunder that you'll be directing' I would have said 'My friend, I know it because I can see the future.'"
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Taika Waititi explained why he agreed to direct this film, "You know what? I had no interest in doing one of those [Marvel] films. It wasn't on my plan for my career as an auteur. But I was poor and I'd just had a second child, and I thought, 'You know what, this would be a great opportunity to feed these children.'"
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(at around 14 mins) The retirement home in New York City is named "Shady Acres," the same name as the retirement home where Stan Marsh's grandfather lives in South Park (1997), and the same as the psychiatric institute in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), which was a play on that movie's director Tom Shadyac.
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At around the 28th minute: in every film Thor (Chris Hemsworth) has appeared in so far, being shocked and/or having his face pressed against glass has become a typical occurrence. In Thor (2011), after his first landing he goes out into the field and Darcy (Kat Dennings) shocks him with a taser. Later, at the hospital, he is stopped by orderlies and security, injected with a strong sedative and his face is pressed against glass. In Thor: The Dark World (2013), while fighting Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) and passing from dimension to dimension, he lands on the roof of a building in London and hits his face against the glass as he slides down. In this film, while teleporting, he finds himself outside the Bifrost and lands on Sakaar. There is an electrically charged net holding him, and here Scrapper 142 (Tessa Thompson) throws the obedience disk at him. She shocks him and, as he is transported, his face is pressed against the glass of her ship. The irony here is that Thor is the God of Thunder, the sound made by lightning, and he is brought down by a handheld shock device.
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Taika Waititi wanted a Withnail & I vibe between Thor and Banner, and he's thrilled that Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo delivered.
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(at around 29 mins) When she first encounters Thor, Valkyrie tells the Scrappers, "He's mine. So if you want him, you go through me." When the Scrappers refuse to give him up, she says, "Alright then, I guess I go through you." A similar scenario and dialogue exchange occurs in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) in the prison where Rocket Raccoon tells the other prisoners, "This one here's our booty! You wanna get to him, you go through us! Or more accurately, we go through you!!"
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(at around 1h 20 mins) When Bruce Banner wears Tony Stark's clothes, the t-shirt depicts the album cover "Rio" by Duran Duran, and this is a subtle moment of foreshadowing, because the album contained the single "Hungry Like The Wolf." A very large wolf appears shortly after this sequence.
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The opening scene in which Thor (Chris Hemsworth) fights the demon Surtur (Clancy Brown) strongly recalls the "mines of Moria" sequence in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). Surtur closely resembles the Balrog of the Fellowship's battles in the mines, and demon hordes also crawl down the pillars toward Thor just as the Orcs do in the Moria scene. This scene also intercuts with Skurge (Karl Urban) on the Bifröst bridge. Urban played Éomer in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
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While filming on the Norwegian cliff, the grass kept getting trampled, so it was replaced with entirely CGI grass in the final film. CGI supervisor Murray Stevenson said, "If we were to treat the meadow as one giant piece of geometry, it would be entirely inefficient. Instead we dealt with the meadow as instancing system: we had 600,000 individual strands of grass that were all driven from an initial template library of each of the grass variations. They each had a shockwave simulation, ambient wind simulation, stronger wind simulation, and so on. We were able to pick and choose which of those simulations were used for any point on the fields. Then at render time we could dynamically adjust those simulations, so if the grass was moving too much in a shot, rather than re-sim it with less wind, we could dynamically dial it down at render time with half the strength. All of this was doable in [VFX software] Gaffer at render time, which saved us a huge amount of iteration cost and time."
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VFX supervisor Dave Morley said of creating Hela's antlered headdress, "This transition required a huge amount of work, beyond the animation of the headdress itself. For starters, we needed to create a full-CG body to smooth out Hela's suit, making it look as clean and slick as possible. The compositing team also had to completely remove Cate's hair, as it was spread all over her front and neck in the plates. That entailed of a lot of paint cleanup, which ultimately aided the smooth transition of the cowl rising and extending from Hela's head."
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The effects studio Image Engine worked on the sequence where Thor and Loki look for Odin on Earth, before ultimately finding him on a cliff in Norway. VFX supervisor Dave Morley said, "It was a great sequence to work on - albeit one that we came onto very late in the process. Our contribution to Thor: Ragnarok was very much 911 work: from award to delivery we had eight weeks to complete around 150 shots."
- #076
Contains a major spoiler — show
(at around 44 mins) The Infinity Gauntlet made its first Marvel Cinematic Universe appearance briefly in Odin's (Sir Anthony Hopkins's) vault in Thor (2011), imbued with all six Infinity Stones. The gauntlet was next seen in an Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) post-credits scene, in Thanos' (Josh Brolin's) vault with all of the infinity stones missing, and Thanos stating "Fine. I'll do it myself." As most of the infinity stones have been identified within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, fans speculated that the complete Infinity Gauntlet seen in Odin's vault must have been either a replica created by Odin, or a continuity gaffe. This movie addresses the gaffe and answers the question. As Hela (Cate Blanchett) walks through Odin's vault, she knocks the Infinity Gauntlet over and states "Fake!"
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Production Story (39)
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Director Taika Waititi consulted with theoretical physicist Clifford Johnson, who previously consulted on the second season of Agent Carter (2015), on space travel, and allowed Johnson to view early drafts of the script. Johnson felt Waititi was "receptive and super excited" about the information he provided, and Johnson gave him physics ideas that could "wink at some of the classic old Thor stuff."
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If you thought Sir Anthony Hopkins's role as Odin in this movie seemed a bit small, there's a reason for that: his scenes were drastically changed after test audiences reacted poorly. In a new interview, director Taika Waititi confirms that the original plan for Odin bothered early test audiences, resulting in a drastic change.
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Taika Waititi explained why he agreed to direct this film, "You know what? I had no interest in doing one of those [Marvel] films. It wasn't on my plan for my career as an auteur. But I was poor and I'd just had a second child, and I thought, 'You know what, this would be a great opportunity to feed these children.'"
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Director Taika Waititi described this movie as a "1970s and 80s science fiction fantasy, the most 'out there' of all of the Marvel movies." He cited Big Trouble in Little China (1986) as a major influence on this movie: "It's a fun adventure film that has big stakes, but also has a breakneck speed and takes you on a crazy adventure."
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Director Taika Waititi felt that despite the events of this movie setting up Avengers: Infinity War (2018), this movie would not only stand on its own, but reinvent the franchise: "A lot of what we're doing with the film is, in a way, dismantling and destroying the old idea and rebuilding it in a new way that's fresh. Everyone's got a slightly new take on their characters, so in that way, it feels like Thor (2011)."
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Taika Waititi feels Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" is just perfect for the film. "As a young Taika growing up in New Zealand in the 80s, if you were to say to me 'One day you're going to use one of the greatest songs ever in the history of everness in a movie about Thor the god of thunder that you'll be directing' I would have said 'My friend, I know it because I can see the future.'"
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The book "The Art of Thor: Ragnarok" reveals that the Asgardian guardians, the Einherjar, were referred to by the concept artists as "E-Guards" and their dead counterparts that were resurrected to be Hela's army were referred to as "D-Guards." Early in the pre-production phase, Hela was supposed to have an army of her own creation called "Butchers." These were dark green demons with tendrils that resembled Hela's headdress. The idea of the Butchers was discarded in favor of the D-Guards.
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Before the sets created for Marvel's Doctor Strange (2016) were demolished, director Taika Waititi took advantage of them by writing and filming a scene for this movie featuring Thor meeting Dr. Stephen Strange. Marvel and Doctor Strange (2016) director Scott Derrickson felt the scene was "kind of perfect" to show Strange joining the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe after his stand-alone introduction in that movie, so the scene appeared during the end credits of Doctor Strange (2016).
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(at around 14 mins) Natalie Portman and Jaimie Alexander didn't return for this movie. Natalie Portman declined to return as Dr. Jane Foster and announced she wouldn't appear in anymore Marvel comic book movies (changing her mind later, appearing in Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) again) and Jaimie Alexander was busy working on Blindspot (2015). Thor mentions Dr. Jane Foster in dialogue and tells Loki that he dumped her. But Lady Sif's absence in this movie is unexplained, and the character is never mentioned; she returns, however, in Thor: Love and Thunder (2022).
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Taika Waititi wanted to use Led Zeppelin: Immigrant Song (1972) since he first included it in the sizzle reel he used to pitch the film to Marvel in 2015. Led Zeppelin is known for rarely licensing their music for feature films, television series, or video games, and it took Marvel two years to secure the rights. Most other films that have featured Led Zeppelin music are related to rock journalist Cameron Crowe (i.e. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Almost Famous (2000)), who covered the band for Rolling Stone. Led Zeppelin did not agree to license the song to Marvel until after seeing the completed trailer in 2017. Marvel paid a reported $2 million for the song.
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Director Taika Waititi consulted with theoretical physicist Clifford Johnson, who previously consulted on the second season of Agent Carter (2015), on space travel, and allowed Johnson to view early drafts of the script. Johnson felt Waititi was "receptive and super excited" about the information he provided, and Johnson gave him physics ideas that could "wink at some of the classic old Thor stuff."
- #107
(at around 1h 30 mins) Loki's armor in this movie is based on his dress in the "Agent of Asgard" comic, where he sought to change his destiny and become a hero, or at least not be seen as a villain anymore. This movie references this when Thor tells Loki he will always be the same, and this inspires him to try and be genuinely heroic.
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The book "The Art of Thor: Ragnarok" reveals that the Asgardian guardians, the Einherjar, were referred to by the concept artists as "E-Guards" and their dead counterparts that were resurrected to be Hela's army were referred to as "D-Guards." Early in the pre-production phase, Hela was supposed to have an army of her own creation called "Butchers." These were dark green demons with tendrils that resembled Hela's headdress. The idea of the Butchers was discarded in favor of the D-Guards.
- #113
Contains a major spoiler — show
Sif was originally supposed to appear in this movie, but Jaimie Alexander's shooting schedule for the third season of Blindspot (2015) clashed with this movie's schedule. It was decided to have the character written out, with producer Kevin Feige saying that Sif was off on a mission during Ragnarök. Sif would later appear on Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
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Contains a major spoiler — show
This film was being developed around the same time as Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and screenwriter Stephen McFeely explained that there was initially a disconnect between how Thor was portrayed in both films, "We were inheriting a Thor from Ragnarok who was very well and radically re-toned from the previous Avengers movies. We had to fly in Hemsworth and Taika Waititi. Word was getting out from Australia, like, 'Do you guys understand what we're doing with this movie?' No, I don't know what you mean. Are you making him an idiot? I don't understand." However, he gained a better sense of Thor's character arc in this film after discussing it with Waititi, "In Ragnarok, he loses his kingdom, his father, his sister, and his eyeball. We just thought about what would happen if any one of us sustained that much loss and failure. And you would get incredibly depressed and probably retreat from the world. That is a comedic performance with a lot of pain behind it."
Behind the Scenes (41)
- #117
The effects studio Image Engine worked on the sequence where Thor and Loki look for Odin on Earth, before ultimately finding him on a cliff in Norway. VFX supervisor Dave Morley said, "It was a great sequence to work on - albeit one that we came onto very late in the process. Our contribution to Thor: Ragnarok was very much 911 work: from award to delivery we had eight weeks to complete around 150 shots."
- #118
VFX supervisor Dave Morley said of creating Hela's antlered headdress, "This transition required a huge amount of work, beyond the animation of the headdress itself. For starters, we needed to create a full-CG body to smooth out Hela's suit, making it look as clean and slick as possible. The compositing team also had to completely remove Cate's hair, as it was spread all over her front and neck in the plates. That entailed of a lot of paint cleanup, which ultimately aided the smooth transition of the cowl rising and extending from Hela's head."
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In addition to his credited role as the voice of Korg, director Taika Waititi told Empire Magazine that he also played two other roles in this movie: "I am one of the heads on the three-headed alien, this character called Haju. I'm the head on the right. And I'm also the motion-capture for Surtur." Clancy Brown performed the voice of Surtur.
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While filming on the Norwegian cliff, the grass kept getting trampled, so it was replaced with entirely CGI grass in the final film. CGI supervisor Murray Stevenson said, "If we were to treat the meadow as one giant piece of geometry, it would be entirely inefficient. Instead we dealt with the meadow as instancing system: we had 600,000 individual strands of grass that were all driven from an initial template library of each of the grass variations. They each had a shockwave simulation, ambient wind simulation, stronger wind simulation, and so on. We were able to pick and choose which of those simulations were used for any point on the fields. Then at render time we could dynamically adjust those simulations, so if the grass was moving too much in a shot, rather than re-sim it with less wind, we could dynamically dial it down at render time with half the strength. All of this was doable in [VFX software] Gaffer at render time, which saved us a huge amount of iteration cost and time."
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(at around 51 mins) When Thor becomes a gladiator, he has his signature long hair cut short. In ancient Roman history, slaves who were sent to gladiator school and trained as gladiators had their hair cut short. Thor also wears a winged helmet during the battle, which is reminiscent of his helmet in Norse mythology, and in the original Marvel comics.
- #133
(at around 1h 30 mins) Loki's armor in this movie is based on his dress in the "Agent of Asgard" comic, where he sought to change his destiny and become a hero, or at least not be seen as a villain anymore. This movie references this when Thor tells Loki he will always be the same, and this inspires him to try and be genuinely heroic.
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Cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe described working on this movie as both satisfying and frustrating: "As a cinematographer, your function is to achieve a technically flawless image, to the service of the director, and a key character of production, which is the visual effects supervisor. At times, it is difficult to know where you are inside the movie, but I am very happy to have been able to respond to such incredible technical requirement."
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(at around 51 mins) When Thor becomes a gladiator, he has his signature long hair cut short. In ancient Roman history, slaves who were sent to gladiator school and trained as gladiators had their hair cut short. Thor also wears a winged helmet during the battle, which is reminiscent of his helmet in Norse mythology, and in the original Marvel comics.
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Cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe described working on this movie as both satisfying and frustrating: "As a cinematographer, your function is to achieve a technically flawless image, to the service of the director, and a key character of production, which is the visual effects supervisor. At times, it is difficult to know where you are inside the movie, but I am very happy to have been able to respond to such incredible technical requirement."
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Contains a major spoiler — show
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) meeting Odin (Sir Anthony Hopkins), and later Hela (Cate Blanchett), was originally to be set in New York City, but director Taika Waititi felt the setting wasn't right for a dying Odin, and re-shot the sequence in a field in Norway, which he felt was a better setting for the Norse gods to meet. The original footage (shot in Brisbane, Australia) can be seen in the July 22 "offical trailer" in the second shot of the trailer.
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Characters & Cast (15)
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In Norse mythology and the comics, Hel (Hela) is the daughter of Loki, Queen of the Underworld and Goddess of Death. Her domain mirrors the appearance of Asgard, as she awaited Ragnarök to fill her kingdom with dead souls. This movie shows quite the opposite, with Hela as Odin's daughter and Loki's half-sister, and her trying to rule Asgard, rather than biding her time and waiting to be the Queen of the dead Asgardians.
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Tom Hiddleston describes Loki as dealing with permanence: "It's in Loki's nature to change. He's a mercurial spirit, and the minute you try to define him he changes shape. But events in Ragnarök try and inspire him to change forever. The Goddess of Death shows up, and the stakes are high for everybody, so Loki, perhaps more than ever, is challenged to define himself in the face of that threat. He and Thor are in such an extraordinary situation where everything is so unfamiliar that their familiarity, as family members, becomes important."
- #160
In Marvel Comics stories, Valkyrie/Brunnhilde has lost numerous host bodies, and her spirit survives by merging (temporarily or long-term) with various women, both mortal and immortal. The most prominent of these "host" women are the Asgardian goddesses Enchantress/Amora and Lorelei (who are sisters to each other), and the mortal women Barbara Denton/Barbara Norriss, Samantha Parrington, and Sian Bowen. This has led to some complications, such as Valkyrie and the host having access to more than one set of memories, not having access to all necessary information on the host, or dealing with confused relatives, such as Barbara's estranged husband and Samantha's parents.
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Tom Hiddleston explains that since Thor: The Dark World (2013), "Loki has devoted most of his efforts to narcissistic self-glorification, not so much on good governance. Loki has always tested the limits of his power and the boundaries placed upon him. He doesn't just stick his finger in the electrical plug socket, he burns the house down. And now he has to deal with the consequences."
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Contains a major spoiler — show
Zachary Levi was unfazed by Fandral's death in this movie, "I knew that the Warriors Three could be really fun characters if they ever developed them. They just didn't... I knew Fandral would be fodder." He said he had a handful of lines during filming, but they were all cut from the scene.
Easter Eggs & References (93)
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(at around 28 mins) It has become typical for Thor (Chris Hemsworth) to be tazed and/or his face squished against a glass in all of his movies so far. In Thor (2011), he is in the field after first landing, and Darcy (Kat Dennings) hits him with her tazer. After that, he is in the hospital being held back by orderlies and security, he gets hit with a powerful sedative and squishes his face against the glass. In Thor: The Dark World (2013), while battling Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) and passing from dimension to dimension, he lands on top of the building in London and squishes his face against the glass as he slides down. In this movie, when transported, he finds himself outside the Bifröst and landing on Sakaar. He has a net with an electric charge holding him, and where Scrapper 142 (Tessa Thompson) throws the obedience disc onto him. She electrocutes him, and while being transported, his face is squished against the glass on her ship. The irony is Thor is the God of Thunder, which is the sound made by lightning, and is brought down by a hand-held tazer.
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The Grandmaster's (Jeff Goldblum's) tower features statues of his champions, notable figures from Marvel comics: the alien being Beta Ray Bill (top left), the supernatural entity Man-Thing (top centre), the Greek god Ares (top right), the android monster the Bi-Beast (bottom right), the alien Fin Fan Foom (bottom centre), and The Night-Crawler (bottom left). Note that 'The Night-Crawler' is not to be confused with 'Nightcrawler' from the X-Men story lines.
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Though most people think the Duran Duran Rio t-shirt worn by Banner may link to the scene when Hulk fights the Wolf (Hungry like the Wolf), it is also possible that it links to Dr. Durand-Durand in Barbarella (1968), from whom Duran Duran got their name. He is the "Mad" (Angry) "Scientist" (speaks for itself) who "creates a weapon that could destroy humanity" (himself).
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Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) flashes a sports jacket and t-shirt containing a print of British pop band Duran Duran's 1982 album Rio. Cover is a painting by American artist Patrick Nagel, famous for illustrations in Playboy magazine in the 1970's and 1980's, which is how one of the group's managers discovered him. It is merely another clin d'oeil to era music by Marvel Universe.
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This marks the third time that Sir Sam Neill and Samuel L. Jackson appeared in the same cinematic universe without having a scene together. Neill appeared in The Hunt for Red October (1990), while Jackson appeared in Patriot Games (1992). The two also appeared in Jurassic Park (1993), along with Jeff Goldblum.
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(at around 1h 45 mins) During the final battle scene when Bruce proclaims he's got this and jumps to try and change midair to battle Fenrir only to crash land references The Incredible Hulk (2008), when Bruce jumps out of a helicopter to fight The Abomination. The fight scene also pays homage to Hulk (2003), where he fights giant mutated dogs that are able to pierce through his skin with their teeth.
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(at around 7 mins) When showing off his "treasures" to the girls, Skurge (Karl Urban) is briefly seen using a "Shake Weight," an infamous product sold on late night television. Another Marvel character, Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), made a reference to the "Shake Weight" infomercial in Deadpool (2016).
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During the second half of this movie, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is wearing a cape made from the drapes in The Incredible Hulk's (Mark Ruffalo's) apartment. This is a subtle reference to his first meeting with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in The Avengers (2012), and his line, "Does mother know you weareth her drapes?"
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After landing on Sakaar, Thor is strapped to a chair and goes on a psychedelic ride through a tunnel which "introduces" him to Sakaar. During his chair-ride, you can hear the song "Pure Imagination" from the original "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" soundtrack playing. This is a direct reference to the psychedelic boat ride Willy Wonka took his visitors on during the movie.
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(at around 48 mins) Korg (Taika Waititi) offers Thor (Chris Hemsworth) a three-pronged wooden spear, saying "it's not much use unless you want to kill three vampires who are all clustered together," a reference to Waititi's previous movie What We Do in the Shadows (2014), about a group of vampires who live together.
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(at around 15 mins) After dispatching Loki, Dr. Strange leaves his business card, which reads "177A Bleecker St." While truly accurate to the comics, and very similar to "221B Baker Street" (the address of Sherlock Holmes, whom Benedict Cumberbatch played on Sherlock (2010)), it is not an Easter egg. It was the real New York City address of Roy Thomas, one of the writers of Dr. Strange.
- #212
- #213
(at around 35 mins) This movie contains homages to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971). When Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is being brought to meet The Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), he is being driven through a brightly colored passageway. During this segment the "Pure Imagination" theme from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) can be heard. In that film, the contest winners take a ferry ride through a colorful tunnel shortly after meeting Willy Wonka. The Grandmaster is reminiscent of Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder), in that both men are eccentric leaders of their own colorful and often confusing labyrinthine domains.
- #214
(at around 1h 20 mins) When Bruce Banner wears Tony Stark's clothes, the t-shirt depicts the album cover "Rio" by Duran Duran, and this is a subtle moment of foreshadowing, because the album contained the single "Hungry Like The Wolf." A very large wolf appears shortly after this sequence.
- #215
(at around 40 mins) In The Avengers (2012), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) tells everyone on the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier "Loki is an Asgardian and my brother!" Natasha states "He's killed eighty people!" Thor deadpan face retorts immediately "He's adopted." Loki (Tom Hiddleston) gets to do the same to Thor as The Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) turns to him when Thor states "Loki is an Asgardian and my brother!" to which Loki retorts immediately "Adopted brother!"
- #216
(at around 14 mins) The retirement home in New York City is named "Shady Acres," the same name as the retirement home where Stan Marsh's grandfather lives in South Park (1997), and the same as the psychiatric institute in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), which was a play on that movie's director Tom Shadyac.
- #217
- #218
(at around 38 mins) The Grandmaster's (Jeff Goldblum's) cousin Carlo (Steven Oliver), who got melted, is named after comic book artist Carlo Pagulayan. He created the character Korg, and was responsible along with writer Greg Pak for The Incredible Hulk comics between 2006 and 2007, and the Planet Hulk storyline. Both of them were given a special mention of thanks at the closing credits.
- #219
- #220
(at around 10 mins) Loki's (Tom Hiddleston's) play mentions a time when he turned Thor (Chris Hemsworth) into a frog. This is a reference to a Walter Simonson story where Loki briefly turned Thor into a frog (but he was able to meet a frog named Puddlegulp and share his power with him, turning him into Throg the Frog of Thunder).
- #221
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- #226
The opening scene in which Thor (Chris Hemsworth) fights the demon Surtur (Clancy Brown) is heavily reminiscent of the "mines of Moria" sequence in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). Surtur bears a close resemblance to the Balrog the Fellowship fights in the mines, and in addition, swarms of demons crawl down pillars towards Thor in the same way Orcs are shown to do in the Moria scene. Additionally, this scene is inter-cut with Skurge (Karl Urban) on the Bifröst bridge. Urban portrayed Eomer in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
- #227
There are two moments of foreshadowing for The Incredible Hulk showing up (other than the movie trailers and posters). When Thor first arrives on Asgard with the dragon head, its blood is green and purple, common Hulk colors. Then, when he visits New York City with Loki in street clothes, he is wearing a green t-shirt and a purple t-shirt, another nod to the Hulk's colors.
- #228
(at around 29 mins) When she first encounters Thor, Valkyrie tells the Scrappers, "He's mine. So if you want him, you go through me." When the Scrappers refuse to give him up, she says, "Alright then, I guess I go through you." A similar scenario and dialogue exchange occurs in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) in the prison where Rocket Raccoon tells the other prisoners, "This one here's our booty! You wanna get to him, you go through us! Or more accurately, we go through you!!"
- #229
(at around 13 mins) Thor gets Loki to remove his Odin disguise by throwing Mjölnir and grabbing Loki with his hammer hand, so that the hammer would return to his hand and crush Loki unless he removed his enchantment. This came from a Walter Simonson Thor comic story where Thor realized Loki had put him under a love spell.
- #230
- #231
Skurge when talking about finding two what appears to be M-16's in Texas, he named them Dez and Troy. Dez Bryant, and Troy Aikman are two of the most popular Dallas Cowboys, in the city of Dallas, in the state of Texas. It is a fun reference that only big American Football fans, or Dallas Cowboy fans would connect.
- #232
- #233
- #234
- #235
- #236
(at around 10 mins) Loki's (Tom Hiddleston's) play mentions a time when he turned Thor (Chris Hemsworth) into a frog. This is a reference to a Walter Simonson story where Loki briefly turned Thor into a frog (but he was able to meet a frog named Puddlegulp and share his power with him, turning him into Throg the Frog of Thunder).
- #237
(at around 15 mins) After dispatching Loki, Dr. Strange leaves his business card, which reads "177A Bleecker St." While truly accurate to the comics, and very similar to "221B Baker Street" (the address of Sherlock Holmes, whom Benedict Cumberbatch played on Sherlock (2010)), it is not an Easter egg. It was the real New York City address of Roy Thomas, one of the writers of Dr. Strange.
- #238
- #239
- #240
(at around 48 mins) Korg (Taika Waititi) offers Thor (Chris Hemsworth) a three-pronged wooden spear, saying "it's not much use unless you want to kill three vampires who are all clustered together," a reference to Waititi's previous movie What We Do in the Shadows (2014), about a group of vampires who live together.
- #241
During the second half of this movie, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is wearing a cape made from the drapes in The Incredible Hulk's (Mark Ruffalo's) apartment. This is a subtle reference to his first meeting with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in The Avengers (2012), and his line, "Does mother know you weareth her drapes?"
- #242
(at around 1h 14 mins) When Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is trying to get the password for the Quinjet, the successful password was "Point Break," which was a subtle nod to Tony Stark's nickname for the blonde Avenger, as he resembled Patrick Swayze (Point Break (1991)) quite closely. "Point Break" is also what Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) calls Thor when they meet in The Avengers (2012).
- #243
- #244
The song that plays during the opening and the final battles (Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song") refers to Valhalla, the hall in Asgard where those who die in battle are carried by the Valkyries and left to rest until Odin calls them at Ragnarök. In this film, Hela ironically calls them to begin Ragnarök.
- #245
(at around 7 mins) When showing off his "treasures" to the girls, Skurge (Karl Urban) is briefly seen using a "Shake Weight," an infamous product sold on late night television. Another Marvel character, Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), made a reference to the "Shake Weight" infomercial in Deadpool (2016).
- #246
(at around 1h 45 mins) During the final battle scene when Bruce proclaims he's got this and jumps to try and change midair to battle Fenrir only to crash land references The Incredible Hulk (2008), when Bruce jumps out of a helicopter to fight The Abomination. The fight scene also pays homage to Hulk (2003), where he fights giant mutated dogs that are able to pierce through his skin with their teeth.
- #247
- #248
- #249
- #250
After landing on Sakaar, Thor is strapped to a chair and goes on a psychedelic ride through a tunnel which "introduces" him to Sakaar. During his chair-ride, you can hear the song "Pure Imagination" from the original "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" soundtrack playing. This is a direct reference to the psychedelic boat ride Willy Wonka took his visitors on during the movie.
- #251
There are two moments of foreshadowing for The Incredible Hulk showing up (other than the movie trailers and posters). When Thor first arrives on Asgard with the dragon head, its blood is green and purple, common Hulk colors. Then, when he visits New York City with Loki in street clothes, he is wearing a green t-shirt and a purple t-shirt, another nod to the Hulk's colors.
- #252
Skurge when talking about finding two what appears to be M-16's in Texas, he named them Dez and Troy. Dez Bryant, and Troy Aikman are two of the most popular Dallas Cowboys, in the city of Dallas, in the state of Texas. It is a fun reference that only big American Football fans, or Dallas Cowboy fans would connect.
- #253
- #254
Contains a major spoiler — show
Hela seeks the sword to open the Bifröst, yet in Thor (2011), Loki uses The Staff of Odin to open the Bifröst, letting in The Frost Giants. Loki also travelled to Jötunnheim, the frozen world of the Frost Giants using the staff, it would figure Hela would already know this, as the hidden mural on the ceiling shows Odin carrying All Fathers Staff into battle.
- #255
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- #257
Contains a major spoiler — show
(at around 44 mins) The Infinity Gauntlet made its first Marvel Cinematic Universe appearance briefly in Odin's (Sir Anthony Hopkins's) vault in Thor (2011), imbued with all six Infinity Stones. The gauntlet was next seen in an Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) post-credits scene, in Thanos' (Josh Brolin's) vault with all of the infinity stones missing, and Thanos stating "Fine. I'll do it myself." As most of the infinity stones have been identified within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, fans speculated that the complete Infinity Gauntlet seen in Odin's vault must have been either a replica created by Odin, or a continuity gaffe. This movie addresses the gaffe and answers the question. As Hela (Cate Blanchett) walks through Odin's vault, she knocks the Infinity Gauntlet over and states "Fake!"
- #258
- #259
Contains a major spoiler — show
In a deleted scene featured on the home video and digital releases of this movie titled "Execution," Michael Rooker makes a surprise, uncredited cameo as Yondu, as he interrupts Skurge (Karl Urban) from executing one of the Asgard women that Hela has ordered for execution. This is a joke, due to his death in Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 (2017) and all Yondu does is ask where Kevin is. He is referring to producer Kevin Feige to presumably talk about his death in the previously mentioned movie.
- #260
Contains a major spoiler — show
(at around 43 mins) When Hela breaks apart the ceiling of the Asgard palace to reveal the true past of her conquests at Odin's side, one of the murals shows Hela wielding Mjölnir, the hammer which was Thor's weapon until she destroyed it at her return. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, at this point in time, the only characters who could wield Mjölnir were Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Odin (Sir Anthony Hopkins), Vision (Paul Bettany) and Hela (Cate Blanchett), with Captain America (Chris Evans) moving it slightly.
- #261
Contains a major spoiler — show
(at around 44 mins) When Hela (Cate Blanchett) is looking at Odin's (Sir Anthony Hopkins's) treasures, she sees Surtur's (Clancy Brown's) horned helmet and remarks, "Hmmm, smaller than I thought it would be." This is an ironic statement because when Surtur shows up again, he is huge, even bigger than before.
- #262
Contains a major spoiler — show
(at around 41 mins) Korg the rock monster (Taika Waititi) introduces himself with a rock, paper, scissors joke when he first meets Thor (Chris Hemsworth). Korg explains that he ended up as a gladiator because he didn't print enough pamphlets. Paper beat rock. Later, at the end of the movie (at around 2h), Korg thinks that he accidentally crushed Miek, his blade-armed alien gladiator friend, and killed him. Though Miek does wake up, Korg killing Miek would mean that rock beat scissors.
- #263
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- #265
Contains a major spoiler — show
In Norse mythology Thor fights Jörmungandr (the world serpent) during Ragnarok. 'Jörmungandr' translates into English as 'huge monster.' When Ragnarok finally occurs in the movie and Thor tells Hulk to stop fighting Surtur, Hulk looks incredulous and states 'Big monster!!!'
Deeper Meaning (15)
- #266
Hel/Hela seems to be depicted in the "Old English Gospel of Nicodemus," a Christian text from the eleventh century. In the text, a feminine personification of Hell (called "Seo hell" in the text) engages in a flyting (An Anglo-Saxon practice, where two rivals exchange insults and mock each other, often in verse) with Satan. Seo hell commands Satan to leave her realm. The female figure is thought to be the old Germanic goddess, apparently still familiar to the Christianized Anglo-Saxons of the eleventh century.
- #267
The "Sonatorrek" ("the irreparable loss of sons") is a tenth century poem by Egill Skallagrímsson (904 to 990 A.D.), and identifies Hel/Hela with death. The poem was written to record Egill's grief and suicidal thoughts, after his son Böðvar drowned at sea. Egill reports that remorseless Hel/Hela has taken his son, and that he eagerly waits for his own death.
- #268
Director Taika Waititi described this movie as reinvention: "While Ragnarök traditionally means the end of everything, in the context of the film, it means disassembling what's already there, and rebuilding it. To me, it's stripping down the establishment, and then building it up in a new way, which is almost like this cyclic idea of Ragnarök. I love heroes that really go through ordeals and then come out the other end completely changed. That's way more exciting and interesting. You can never go back from that."
- #269
- #270
The song that plays during the opening and final battles (Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song") references Valhalla, the hall located in Asgard where those fallen in battle are carried by Valkyries and laid to rest until called upon by Odin in Ragnarök. In this movie, they are ironically called upon by Hela to begin Ragnarök.
- #271
The Ynglinga saga (thirteenth century) by Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241) depicts the lives, reigns, and deaths of the legendary kings of the House of Ynglings. Hel/Hela appears in the saga to claim the souls of kings who failed to die in battle. When Dyggvi the Brave dies of illness, the saga reports that he becomes Hel/Hela's new spouse.
- #272
In the Prose Edda (thirteenth century), the god Baldr (who was killed, not in battle, but after Loki tricked Baldr's brother into shooting him with an arrow made of mistletoe) is sent to Hel/Hela and kept in her realm. Baldr is even mentioned as "Hel's companion." When his brother Hermod negotiates for Baldr's release and resurrection, Hel/Hela's terms are that she will only release Baldr "If all things in the world, alive or dead, weep for him." When a giantess (who actually is Loki in disguise) refuses to weep for his death, Hel/Hela gets to keep her prize.
- #273
In the "Gesta Danorum" (thirteenth century) by Saxo Grammaticus (1160-1220), Hel/Hela seems to be identified with Proserpina, the Roman goddess of death and the underworld. Saxo called her Proserpina as she prepares to claim the soul of Baldr. Proserpina is typically identified with Persephone, the Greek goddess of death and the Underworld.
- #274
Hel/Hela seems to be depicted in numerous bracteates (a type of jewelry) from the Migration Period (fourth to sixth century A.D.), predating her appearances in written texts. Some of them depict her as a woman holding a scepter, and preparing to confront or welcome a horseman who enters her realm. Others depict Hel/Hela greeting the dying Baldr.
- #275
Tom Hiddleston explains that since Thor: The Dark World (2013), "Loki has devoted most of his efforts to narcissistic self-glorification, not so much on good governance. Loki has always tested the limits of his power and the boundaries placed upon him. He doesn't just stick his finger in the electrical plug socket, he burns the house down. And now he has to deal with the consequences."
- #276
In Norse mythology and the comics, Hel (Hela) is the Queen of the Underworld and the Goddess of Death, and the daughter of Loki. Her realm mirrors the appearance of Asgard, which awaits Ragnarök to fill its kingdom with dead souls. This film shows the opposite: Hela, as Odin's daughter and Loki's adoptive sister, tries to rule Asgard instead of waiting her time to become Queen of the dead Asgardians.
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Career & Awards (2)
Related pages
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 — Thor: Ragnarok comes up in the facts on that page
- Thor — Thor: Ragnarok comes up in the facts on that page
- Venom — Thor: Ragnarok comes up in the facts on that page
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- Wikipedia
- IMDb
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