Mild spoilers for Thor: Ragnarok follow below.
If you’ve seen even the trailers forThor: Ragnarok, you know this movie is 100% a great time. It’s silly, tremendously joyous, and downright hilarious. DirectorTaika Waititiinfused the film with a ton of comedy that allowedChris Hemsworthto somewhat reinvent the character of Thor in a much more likable (and, yes, funny) way.
But whileThor: Ragnarokhas its silly moments, it does a fine job of taking the emotional stakes seriously. It’s goofy as hell, but you also buy the fact that Thor cares deeply about his people and Asgard. No doubt walking that fine line was difficult, and indeed Waititi has now revealed a flashback scene that would have beenhilarious, but also might have felt superfluous.
While appearing on Josh Horowitz’sHappy Sad Confused podcast, Waititi revealed that in his pitch to Marvel, he used some footage fromJohn Hughesmovies. When asked how that influence manifested itself in Waititi’s vision for the film, the director said he initially planned an elaborate 1980s flashback sequence:
“Well I wanted this little thing, and maybe if we ever do aThor 4we can have it, but I wanted to do some flashbacks where Thor was a kid, a fat little kid. There was like an 80s version of Asgard where everyone had massive shoulder pads, and everyone had mullets (laughs). Our idea was Thor and Valkyrie meet and he’s like, ‘Hey I know you,’ and she’s like ‘Ha I remember you,’ and then it cuts back to this thing and he’s just this pudgy little kid walking around with a mullet and being picked on by other kids. And Loki’s like this little emo goth hanging out by himself. He was like the kid in Harry Potter, [Malfoy].”
Well that sounds amazing. It doesn’t appear as though the scene was ever shot, as Waititi says they decided against including the scene when logic creeped in:
“The problem was we needed him to not know Valkyire in the film and stuff. And then it became less and less of a thing to have a flashback. We would’ve been forcing it, so it would’ve been a situation where we would have been having a pointless flashback.”
That’s fair, and it’s nice to know that as silly asRagnarokgets, Waititi was also cognizant of the fact that he didn’t want the film to feel like a bunch of detours. It also may have tread a little too close toGuardians of the Galaxyterritory, especially in the wake ofVol. 2. But here’s hoping Waititi returns forThor 4because Ireallyneed to see Fat Thor now.
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