Thor: Ragnarok is a flick that’s shaping up to be one of this year’s potential wild card movies. While we all loved the character of Thor, there was much to be desired in his first sequel, Thor: The Dark World. As fun as that movie was at times, there was little denying that it was a bit of a narrative mess. So much so that, as of this writing, it sits at 66 percent on Rotten Tomatoes as the lowest rated Marvel flick in the MCU (though, still not that bad, when all said and done). Since the bar had been so consistently high in the past, its narrative weaknesses were all the more glaring.
Enthusiasm for the character, however, never faltered. The guy was just as popular in Avengers: Age of Ultron as he was in the first Avengers, and Marvel Studios seemed to understand that The Dark World didn’t stand as a true testament of their quality. But would Thor be able to successfully lead a film again? Luckily for fans, one of the key strengths of the MCU is the fact that it’s a SHARED UNIVERSE. Yes, a film can focus on one character, but there’s no reason why there couldn’t be a secondary lead (Just look at the last two Captain America films, which featured co-leads Black Widow and Iron Man, respectively). Thor: Ragnarok seemed like the perfect movie to bring in Hulk as a secondary lead.
And that’s exactly what Marvel is giving us. It was revealed some time ago that Mark Ruffalo would be reprising his role as the green giant, and that they would be taking elements from the fan favorite comic, Planet Hulk, which featured Hulk fighting as a gladiator. Now, in the special features of the recently-released Doctor Strange Digital HD release, we got our first taste of the film in the special features.
Take a look at some of the new concept art of Thor taking on the gargantuan Hulk!
As great as these images are in just what’s going on, the eagle-eyed folks over at Comicbook.com also noted that the images show Thor wearing his trademark helmet — a helmet he’s avoided wearing in the Marvel movies thus far. Gotta love how the studio knows how to trickle in little Easter eggs like that.
All in all, it’s a fun little tease for those who have been following, but we do have to wonder what the context of this fight truly is. Why is Hulk there, and what elements will they be pulling from Planet Hulk? Is there a possibility that, like in the comics, Bruce Banner is plotting on getting revenge on the rest of the Avengers? We certainly hope not!
The synopsis for Thor: Ragnarok is below:
“Thor (Hemsworth) is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok – the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization – at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela (Blanchett). But first he must survive a deadly gladatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger – The Incredible Hulk!â€
Thor: Ragnarok hits theaters on November 3, 2017.
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SOURCE: Marvel (via Comicbook.com)