The ‘Twilight of the Gods’ is coming….
Marvel has revealed the new additions to its cinematic universe debuting in THOR: RAGNAROK, the thunder god’s third solo feature.
Mark Ruffalo is confirmed to star as Bruce Banner/The Hulk, last seen piloting an Avengers Quinjet on a one way trip to nowhere. The plot is rumoured to follow the Hulk and Thor on a cosmic odyssey, with the whole universe at stake, obviously. Anything less would fail to bring together a god and a big, green rage monster.
Possibly aiding the two heroes on their adventures will be Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, also known as Brunnhilde, the leader of the Valkyrior (warrior goddesses tasked with taking the ‘worthy’ fallen to Valhalla). In Marvel lore, Valkyrie has been a longtime ally of Thor, and fought alongside The Avengers and The Defenders. If the Marvel’s cinematic universe can pull-off a rainbow bridge, then an awesome warrior woman and her flying horse, shouldn’t be goofy at all.
Going up against the merry band of heroes and maybe saving the day, will be Karl Urban as Skurge the Executioner; an axe wielding WWE type. In the comics, Skurge is one of Thor’s oldest and deadliest foes, being a founding member of the original Masters of Evil, and fueled by his unrequited love for fellow Asgardian, the Enchantress. During Ragnarok, he fought alongside Thor against an army of the dead and perished a hero.
The movie’s ‘Big Bad’ is Cate Blanchett as Hel, the Asgardian goddess of the dead, with a penchant for overly elaborate impractical headgear. In Marvel lore, she’s attempted to kill Thor numerous times and lead her army of the dead against Asgard. Everyone needs a hobby.
And then there’s Jeff Goldblum as The Grandmaster: a blue alien, Elder of the Universe, and obsessive Gamer. He’s the ‘brother’ of The Collector, with a reputation for recruiting anyone in spandex to be his pawns in cosmic games of chess. The Grandmaster will likely be neither hero nor villain and be part of bigger things or just trying to challenge Howard the Duck to a FIFA’16 rematch.
Notable absences include: Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Thor’s love interest in previous movie’s and last seen hand-in-hand with the Asgardian (the honeymoon period must be over); Stellan Skarsgard as Dr Erik Selvig, who’s probably out to cave dive for magical pools of water, after a pointless cameo in AVENGERS:AGE OF ULTRON; and Jaimie Alexander‘s Asgardian warrior, Sif.
The newcomers will join MCU veterans: Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Idris Elba (Heimdall) and Anthony Hopkins (Odin).
Directed by Taika Waititi, THOR:RAGNAROK premieres in November 2017.
