Disney Facts! Volume 2

Facts 631-660: Thor Ragnarok Themed Page

Yes!! We know each other, he's a friend from work! Loki, look who it is! 

. . . I need to get off this planet--! 

Finally the MCU returns to Asgard! It's time we learn some facts about the third installment of the Thor franchise, Thor: Ragnarok! 

Fact #631
Thor's "friend from work" line about the Hulk was suggested to Chris Hemsworth by a Make-A-Wish child who paid a visit to the set on the day the scene was filmed.

Fact #632
Eighty percent of the dialogue in the film was improvised, in order to create a "very loose and collaborative mood" among the cast.

Fact #633
Taika Waititi based Korg's character on Polynesian bouncers: "We wanted to change the idea of what a hulking guy made of rocks could be. He's huge and heavy, but with a light soul, and he's funny and friendly."

Fact #634
Cate Blanchett accepted a role in this movie to please her children, who are Marvel comics fans. Blanchett's eldest son Dashiell John Upton suggested she take the role of Hela, saying it'd be a career boost.

Fact #635
In Norse mythology, Ragnarok is translated as "Twilight of the Gods". The myth tells of the eventual destruction of the universe and mankind, as well as the deaths of several key figures in Norse Mythology, such as the gods Odin, Thor, Loki, Heimdall, Freyr, Sol, and Tyr, and the monsters, a.k.a. jotun, Fenrir and Jörmungandr. A new generation of gods, the children of Odin, Thor, and Sol specifically, will take the place of the old ones, as the cycle of the world starts anew.

Fact #636
The Grandmaster's tower features statues of his champions, who are: the Greek god Ares, the alien being Beta Ray Bill, the supernatural entity Man-Thing, and the android monster the Bi-Beast. 

Fact #637
The song heard in the first trailer is Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song". It was specifically chosen because its lyrics make mention of Norse religion.

Fact #638
This marks the first time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that Lou Ferrigno will not voice The Hulk. Mark Ruffalo will voice Hulk instead. Ferrigno voiced Hulk in The Incredible Hulk, The Avengers,  and Avengers: Age of Ultron. 

Fact #639
Hela is the first main villain in a Marvel Cinematic Universe film to be female. 

Fact #640
Director Taika Waititi said that he wanted to showcase Chris Hemsworth's comedic talent in this film: "He's so good and underutilized in that department. He's legitimately one of the funniest things in this film."

Fact #641
Taika Waititi described the film as a "1970s and 80s science fiction fantasy, the most 'out there' of all the Marvel movies." He cited Big Trouble in Little China (1986) as a major influence on the film: "It's a fun adventure film that has big stakes, but also has a breakneck speed and takes you on a crazy adventure."

Fact #642
Chris Hemsworth had to bulk up again for his role as the mighty god Thor. He had to follow a strict diet, and work out six to seven times a week, and eat around 6000 calories a day.

Fact #643
Mark Ruffalo has hinted that his appearance in this movie will primarily be as Hulk, not as Bruce Banner and the Hulk equally, as it has been, in his previous appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Fact #644
On Earth, Thor disguises his hammer Mjolnir as an umbrella. In the comics, whenever Thor took on the mortal form of Dr Donald Blake he disguised Mjolnir as a walking stick.

Fact #645
Before the sets created for Marvel's Doctor Strange were demolished, Waititi took advantage of them by writing and filming a scene for Ragnarok featuring Thor meeting Benedict Cumberbatch's Stephen Strange. Marvel and Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson felt the scene was "kind of perfect" to show Strange joining the wider MCU after his stand-alone introduction in that film, so the scene appears during the credits of Doctor Strange. 

Fact #646
In the comics, the Grandmaster has blue skin. Taika Waititi decided against applying blue on Jeff Goldblum, because he felt Goldblum was a good enough actor to not need it, and because Goldblum had already played a blue-colored character in Earth Girls Are Easy back in 1988. 

Fact #647
Taika Waititi appears in this film as the alien being Korg. Waititi is the second Marvel film Director to have a major role in his own film, after Jon Favreau, who directed the first two Iron Man films, and appeared as "Happy" Hogan in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Fact #648
Tessa Thompson based her performance as Valkyrie on Sarah Connor from Terminator 2. 

Fact #649
In the scene where Thor is about to be introduced to the Grandmaster an instrumental version of "Pure Imagination" from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory plays in the background. 

Fact #650
To prepare for her role as Hela, Cate Blanchett studied capoeira, a Brazilian martial art. 

Fact #651
When Thor becomes a gladiator, he has his signature long hair cut short. In ancient Roman history, slaves whom were sent to gladiator school and trained as gladiators had their hair cut short.

Fact #652
Sif was originally supposed to appear in the film, but actress Jaime Alexander's shooting schedule for the third season of her TV series Blindspot (2015) clashed at the same time as the shooting schedule, preventing her from doing so. It was eventually decided to have the character written out with producer Kevin Feige saying that Sif was on a mission during the same time as Ragnarok. 

Fact #653
In the comics and Norse myth, Valkyrie was a fair-skinned, blonde, Viking warrior-woman. In this film, she is played by African-American actress Tessa Thompson. According to Taika Waititi, this was a not deliberate decision to diversify the film, but to choose the best person: "You're working with comic-book Vikings, so you have to look at the source material as a very loose inspiration. A character's skin tone and hair color doesn't matter. I think the story is king, and you want the best person for the job, and Tessa was the best person." 

Fact #654
The film was retitled in Japan as "Thor: Battle Royale", an homage to the Koushun Takami story "Battle Royale", about people who are imprisoned in an arena and seek escape. 

Fact #655
Cate Blanchett played Hela in a motion-capture suit, because of Hela's ability to shapeshift her body. She said this was a bit awkward, since she got confused in a few scenes.

Fact #656
According to Taika Waititi, while the film adapts the "Planet Hulk" storyline, Hulk wasn't going to be in the film at all; it was only supposed to be Thor stranded on an alien battlefield-world.

Fact #657
Taika Waititi wanted to feature a cameo by Corpsman Rhomann Dey from Guardians of the Galaxy. 

Fact #658
Thor wields a mace in his fight with the Incredible Hulk. In the Marvel comics, this mace was used by Thor's ally, Hercules. 

Fact #659
Thor calls his team the Revengers. In the Marvel comics, the Revengers were a team of supervillains/anti-heroes made to oppose the Avengers.

Fact #660
The Infinity Gauntlet made its first MCU appearance briefly in Odin's vault in Thor, imbued with all six infinity stones. The gauntlet was next seen in an Avengers: Age of Ultron post-credits scene, in Thanos' vault with all infinity stones missing and Thanos stating "Fine. I'll do it myself". As most of the infinity stones have been identified within the MCU, fans speculated that the complete Infinity Gauntlet seen in Odin's vault must have been either a replica created by Odin or a continuity gaff. This movie addresses the gaff and answers the question; as Hela walks through Odin's Vault, she knocks the Infinity Gauntlet over and states "Fake!"

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I hope you all enjoyed these facts as much as I did!