Major Thor: Ragnarok SPOILERS follow in this article!
This is your last warning. Still here? Then hopefully, you’ve seen Thor: Ragnarok already.
The movie was awesome in so many ways. Despite being criticized by some as being too comedic (It did indeed have many humorous scenes), it is in some ways one of Marvel’s darkest films.
For example, it’s far more violent than any previous Marvel Cinematic Universe entry. There are stabbings, shootings, impalings, meltings, and eyes being cut out. I was honestly surprised at just how much murder and maiming occurred on screen.
Then, we have what has been a big sticking point for some moviegoers: Marvel’s hesitation to kill off any important characters. However, within the first 20 minutes, the mighty Warriors Three – Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun – are all disposed of unceremoniously by the evil Hela.
Finally, there’s the complete obliteration of Thor’s beloved homeland, Asgard. Although the Ragnarok of Norse mythology was indeed the Asgardian apocalypse, I’m sure most of us believed the Odinson would find a way to prevent the destruction of his realm. But that was not to be, as Surtur and Hela’s fight turned the beautiful, peaceful land into galactic charcoal.
What gave the filmmakers the idea – not to mention the balls – to pull this off? Co-writer Eric Pearson dished to The Hollywood Reporter.
HR: How early did you know you were going to actually destroy Asgard and they’d end up on a spaceship?
“I forget exactly how that idea came up, but I remember bringing it up right at the beginning. One of the previous works had Asgard not really being destroyed, or being rebuilt or something. Well, it’s Ragnarok. That means apocalypse in Norse mythology. Don’t we get to blow it up? We really got to do it here, and I think we can’t be scared of it.
The idea of making Thor a quasi-Noah figure … in getting everyone onto the arc to preserve them — I think I knew right from the beginning we had to do that. It was more about the tricky thing of making it Thor’s choice. It wasn’t that he just lost a huge battle. He learned something more about being a ruler that the people are the kingdom, not the space itself.
As a king, as a selfless king, you’ve got to make sacrifices. We tried to present him with a no-win scenario, and he made the right choice to continue on the Asgardian lineage, as opposed to trying to punch his problems to death.”
There you have it. It sounds like all that death and destruction served to make the mighty Thor a better leader for his few remaining subjects.
The post-credits scenes for the film have also been explained.
What did you think of the movie? What do you hope lies ahead for the endangered Asgardian race? Tell us in the comments!