The god of thunder is back: all the updates, trailers and commentary for Thor: Ragnarok – The Verge

Good news, Thor’s roommate survived Avengers: Infinity War

2018-08-14T11:56:08-04:00

Judging from a recent post on social media, fandom's favorite average, everyday Marvel Cinematic Universe character is still alive after the population-halving Thanos snap in Avengers: Infinity War. Everyone who had him on their concern list can officially stop worrying.

While Thor's roommate Darryl isn't featured in the actual movies, he became a Marvel fan-favorite, thanks to a series of hilarious shorts that explained what Thor was up to during Captain America: Civil War and leading up to Thor: Ragnarok. As these videos told it, the thunder god just took it easy and tried to live a normal life, including living in a small Australian apar …

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Thor: Ragnarok leaks onto the web a month early after huge Movies Anywhere mix-up

2018-01-22T13:53:26-05:00

Thor: Ragnarok has quickly spread across torrent sites after customers were able to prematurely download the title an entire month before its planned mid-February digital release. The error is apparently the result of a miscommunication between Vudu and Apple.

Both companies participate in the Movies Anywhere program, which lets consumers watch their digital movie libraries across devices and various apps such as iTunes, Vudu, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, and others. It's a fantastic idea that basically bulldozes any kind of ecosystem lock-in - at least when it comes to movies.

According to TorrentFreak, some users on Reddit noticed t …

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Thor director Taika Waititi on letting his cast ‘reboot’ their characters

2017-11-07T14:44:20-05:00

Taika Waititi and the Marvel Cinematic Universe always seemed like an odd team-up. Waititi is a New Zealand-born writer-director who's primarily worked in comedy, from the vampire ensemble film What We Do In The Shadows to episodes of Flight of the Conchords to the terrific family action film Hunt For The Wilderpeople. He likes to work loose and let his actors improvise, and he's always operated on a small scale. Putting him in charge of a $180 million blockbuster about superheroes whaling on each other in space was a bold and interesting move for Marvel Studios, but it was still certainly a counterintuitive one.

Still, his MCU film, Thor: …

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Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi had to have this Led Zeppelin song

2017-11-07T10:47:18-05:00

Even for those who aren't fans of classic '70s rock, Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" is instantly recognizable. It starts off with driving drums and rousing guitar chords that build into its iconic battle howl, "Ah-ah, ah!" Originally inspired by the band's time in Iceland, the lyrics spin a tale of Norse mythology and viking fantasy involving great battles and the Hammer of the Gods. "Valhalla, I am coming!" wails Robert Plant.

It sounds like a perfect fit for Marvel's blockbuster Thor movies about the hammer-wielding Norse thunder god, which is why Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi was so insistent about getting it in his film - but l …

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How Thor: Ragnarok turned the Hulk into an improv comedian

2017-11-06T14:00:46-05:00

This past weekend, Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok became the studio's 17th straight number-one opening, thanks to a well-established formula of heroic action moments, grand mythology, and evil entities eager to destroy the universe. The format fits the familiar pattern of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Ragnarok nevertheless stands out due to the unique comic sensibilities of director Taika Waititi. He doesn't take himself - or superheroes - too seriously, and he heavily incorporates the kind of improvisational, character-based approach that he honed with indie movies like Hunt for the Wilderpeople and the improv vampire comedy What We Do in the …

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Thor: Ragnarok thinks superheroes are ridiculous, and that makes it wonderful

2017-11-03T11:13:58-04:00

Over the years, Marvel has earned a reputation for perhaps not being the most director-friendly studio in the industry. Edgar Wright left Ant-Man after eight years on the project, due to differences in vision. Joss Whedon walked away from the Avengers franchise after finding the creative compromises on Age of Ultron too difficult. And Patty Jenkins left Thor: The Dark World for similar reasons - and then went on to direct Wonder Woman. Along the way, filmmakers like Ava DuVernay have been invited to direct Marvel movies, and have declined to jump on board in the first place.

But somewhat quietly, Marvel Studios has been evolving. In recent …

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Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi on how he’s making the God of Thunder fun

2017-09-28T12:53:56-04:00

Marvel has released a behind-the-scenes featurette for Thor: Ragnarok, in which director Taika Waititi discusses how he approached the film and how he hopes to inject some new fun into the character.

In the clip, Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor in the movie, says he and Watiti both agreed that the character needed an injection of fun. "I want to take people on a ride and inject some comedy into it," Waititi says, "an adventure that keeps people laughing along the way, but also has the spectacle and stuff that gets people excited."

Hemsworth says that they went into the film with the aim of having more fun with it, but also that it's someth …

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Hulk learns to talk in the new trailer for Thor: Ragnarok

2017-07-22T21:39:02-04:00

Thor: Ragnarok is looking like the roadtrip movie of the fall, and Marvel definitely delivered at Comic-Con today. In the movie's latest trailer, Thor starts out saying he's been on a "journey of self-discover." He's been reunited with Bruce Banner, who vanished after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, and the two are out to defeat Hela (Cate Blanchett), who's bent on destroying Asgard.

Directed by What We Do In the Shadows director Taika Waititi, Thor: Ragnarok has been stunning fans for months thanks to its surprising sense of humor and quirky characters. (To say nothing of how great Jeff Goldblum and Cate Blanchett look as the Grandm …

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Marvel’s magic factory: a behind-the-scenes look at Black Panther, Thor: Ragnarok, and more

2017-04-18T12:13:07-04:00

Marvel's Cinematic Universe has become a template for the entire entertainment industry, with nearly every studio trying to duplicate Marvel's ability to weave film after film into one serialized, interconnected, long-form narrative. For most other companies, imitating Marvel has been nearly impossible, in large part due to the development and creative process that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige architects out of the company's offices on the Disney lot in Burbank, California.

Having originally sprung to life in a small office in West Los Angeles, Marvel Studios now takes up the entire second floor of the sprawling Frank G. Wells build …

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With Thor: Ragnarok, Marvel hopes to find new, fresh stories away from Earth

2017-04-10T18:15:53-04:00

The first trailer for Thor: Ragnarok - Taika Waititi's next indie film - has been taking the internet by storm this morning, with its neon-soaked color scheme, lighthearted humor, and incredible helmets.

Alongside fellow 2017 Marvel movies Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming, Ragnarok seems to have a certain life to it that other films in the superhero genre - including Marvel's own recent efforts - have been lacking. And a lot of that, I think, has to do with Ragnarok's setting, which seems to be ditching the tired scenery of Earth for something a little more… extravagant.

Putting aside the original Guardians of the …

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