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Thor: Ragnarok

FILM · 2017 · USA

Thor: Ragnarok

Directed by
Taika Waititi
Runtime
131 min
Studio
Marvel Studios

273 archived facts 7 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Sep 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.

Summary: TMDB

  • Thor: Ragnarok — production image

11 Facts From Behind the Scenes of Thor: Ragnarok

  1. #073

    At around 7 minutes, the Shake Weight seen with Skurge (Karl Urban) at the beginning of the film belonged to director Taika Waititi. Waititi bought it during the shooting of Green Lantern (2011), in which he acted. He bought it while watching an infomercial late at night.

    BEHIND THE SCENES · SOURCED

  2. #104

    Skurge's swinging weight actually belongs to director Taika Waititi. He bought it during the shooting of Green Lantern (2011) and joked that it was a "DC Crossover."

    BEHIND THE SCENES · SOURCED

  3. #140

    Cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe described working on this film as both satisfying and frustrating: "As a cinematographer, your job is to achieve a technically flawless image in the service of the director and the visual effects supervisor, who is a key character in the production. Sometimes it is hard to know where you are within the film, but I am very happy to have been able to respond to such an incredible technical requirement."

    BEHIND THE SCENES · SOURCED

  4. #156

    Zoe Bell was Cate Blanchett's stunt double for most of the film.

    BEHIND THE SCENES · SOURCED

  5. #202

    Skurge's Shake Weight in the film actually belongs to director Taika Waititi. He bought it in Atlanta during the filming of Green Lantern (2011) through an infomercial.

    BEHIND THE SCENES · SOURCED

  6. #216

    "Snake Story" Improvisation: Thor's comedic story about Loki turning into a snake and stabbing him was completely unscripted; Chris Hemsworth improvised the dialogue on the spot.

    BEHIND THE SCENES · SOURCED

  7. #249

    Marvel gave prospective directors for Thor: Ragnarok its ten different ideas for the film and asked each to return with a clearer vision of what it should be. Taika Waititi responded with a sizzle reel for tone and jokes assembled from clips of other films, including Big Trouble in Little China (1986).

    BEHIND THE SCENES · SOURCED

  8. #260

    Director Taika Waititi consulted theoretical physicist Clifford Johnson on space travel for Thor: Ragnarok; Johnson read early script drafts and offered physics ideas that could wink at classic Thor material. Astronomer-physicist Adam Frank also advised the film on wormholes and interstellar travel.

    BEHIND THE SCENES · SOURCED

  9. #261

    Production designer Dan Hennah described Muspelheim, one of the Nine Realms ruled by Surtur, as a Dyson sphere drawing power from a dying star. For Sakaar's gladiator arena, Hennah looked at Roman gladiators but made the design fully alien, with standing bleachers surrounding the arena.

    BEHIND THE SCENES · SOURCED

  10. #270

    Cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe described his work on Thor: Ragnarok as a rare mix of satisfaction and frustration, saying he felt he was mostly there to serve the director and visual effects supervisor but was very happy to meet such incredible technical requirements.

    BEHIND THE SCENES · SOURCED

  11. #273

    Waititi asked the heads of every department on Thor: Ragnarok to watch Flash Gordon (1980) before they started work, and concept art released at San Diego Comic Con in 2016 revealed that Fenris Wolf would appear.

    BEHIND THE SCENES · MILD SPOILER · SOURCED

Sources & editorial notes

Reference databases

  • Wikipedia English Wikipedia article
  • IMDb Cast, crew and release details
  • TMDB The Movie Database entry

Sources for the entries on this page

  1. Wikipedia Thor: Ragnarok — WikipediaEncyclopedia · accessed 17 Sep 2026
  2. IMDb IMDbDatabase · accessed 18 Sep 2026

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