90 Fun Facts About Thor: Ragnarok

Who plays Bruce Banner and the Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok?

Mark Ruffalo said Kevin Feige asked him what a solo Hulk film would be, then spread that story across three films, starting here and running into the next two Avengers.

Which fire demon holds Thor prisoner at the start of Thor: Ragnarok?

Surtur doesn't hold him long: Thor breaks free, defeats the demon and carries off his crown, believing he has prevented Ragnarök.

Hela, the sister Thor never knew he had, is the goddess of what?

Death is her title: Odin's firstborn led Asgard's armies until her ambition outgrew his, so he locked her away and wrote her out of history.

In which country do Thor and Loki find the dying Odin?

Norway replaced a New York alley where Odin looked homeless: Waititi reshot the scene because the city distracted from a father's last moments with his sons.

What does Hela do to Mjolnir moments after appearing?

Crushes it in one hand: the film's star had got 'a bit bored' of the role, and Waititi kept stripping Thor down, long hair and hammer included.

What is the name of the garbage planet Thor crash-lands on?

Sakaar sits amid wormholes that have spat things onto it for eons, which is why producer Brad Winderbaum called it 'the toilet of the universe'.

What is Valkyrie's designation when she works for the Grandmaster?

Scrapper 142 is the last of the Valkyries, Asgard's female warriors who fell fighting Hela; she has spent the years since drinking to forget.

Who plays Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok?

Tessa Thompson trained to look like Sarah Connor in Terminator 2 after Waititi sent her a picture, and talked him into filming a woman leaving Valkyrie's bedroom, a shot later cut.

What does the Grandmaster trigger to stop Thor winning the Contest of Champions?

An obedience disk on Thor's neck shocks him to the floor just as his lightning has turned the fight his way, so the Grandmaster's own champion wins.

What finally turns the Hulk back into Bruce Banner after two years?

A recording of Natasha Romanoff starts playing as the Hulk wrecks the Quinjet he arrived in, and her voice calms him until Banner returns.

Which larva-like alien with cybernetic limbs joins Korg in starting the gladiators' revolution?

Miek never says a word in the film; once Thor's allies free the gladiators, he and Korg stir them into the revolt that ends with the Grandmaster overthrown.

What does Thor lose in his battle with Hela?

His right eye is slashed out by Hela, and the loss sticks: the film's star confirmed that Thor carries the eye patch into Avengers: Infinity War.

How is Hela finally defeated in Thor: Ragnarok?

Asgard is destroyed around her: because she draws her power from the realm, Thor has Loki put the crown in the Eternal Flame and set off the apocalypse he once tried to stop.

What is the name of the Grandmaster's ship that carries Thor and his people away at the end?

The Statesman arrives with Loki and the freed gladiators in time to take Asgard's people off the Bifröst bridge, and Thor ends the film aboard it as king.

Who plays Hela in Thor: Ragnarok?

Cate Blanchett learned the martial art capoeira for the fights, yet had to play Hela in a motion-capture suit and wore her headdress only for photo shoots.

Which punk singer inspired the movement of the actress playing Hela?

Siouxsie Sioux's 'unique, unconventional movement' shaped how Hela commands a space; the actress said she was channelling the punk-rock iconography of the '70s and '80s.

Who plays the Grandmaster in Thor: Ragnarok?

Jeff Goldblum kept his own skin tone: Waititi skipped the comic character's blue because Goldblum had already been blue in Earth Girls Are Easy.

The Grandmaster is the brother of which Guardians of the Galaxy character?

The Collector is his brother, a tie Marvel's Kevin Feige said the studio loves; asked whether the two would ever share the screen, he said it 'would be great'.

Who plays Skurge, Hela's executioner?

Karl Urban shaved his head to play Skurge, who serves Hela with an uneasy conscience and finally gives his life so the ship carrying Asgard's people can get away.

Whose voice did Waititi base Korg's soft-spoken delivery on?

Polynesian bouncers with soft, delicate voices were his model: Waititi wanted a soft-spoken rock monster as something different, and also drew on his friend Rhys Darby.

Which Shawshank Redemption actor voices the fire demon in Thor: Ragnarok?

Clancy Brown supplies only the voice: Waititi performed the demon's motion capture on set himself, as he did for the rock gladiator Korg.

What is Stan Lee's cameo in Thor: Ragnarok?

A barber with spinning blades for hands is his role: Thor goes from bluster to begging once he sees them, and loses his long hair anyway.

Which Hollywood star plays the Loki actor in the Asgardian play?

Matt Damon is the punchline: Waititi figured a vain Loki would 'get a huge celebrity to play myself', and it was shot 'on a lark' after the film's star suggested his friend.

What everyday object is Mjolnir disguised as on Earth in Thor: Ragnarok?

An umbrella is Mjolnir's disguise on Earth: when Thor holds out a hand to summon it indoors, it smashes through glass on its way to him.

Which scene did Waititi write and shoot on another Marvel film's sets before they were demolished?

Thor meeting Stephen Strange was shot on the Doctor Strange set before it was struck; that film's director found it 'kind of perfect' and used it in his own credits.

Which 2006 comic storyline about alien gladiators was folded into Thor: Ragnarok?

"Planet Hulk" nearly stayed off screen: an Age of Ultron script had the Hulk's jet detected near Saturn, but Marvel changed it to an Earth location to keep its options open.

Which Led Zeppelin track from Waititi's pitch reel ended up in Thor: Ragnarok and its trailers?

"Immigrant Song" scored the sizzle reel Waititi cut to pitch for the job; Kevin Feige said it 'defined what Taika was going to do', and it stayed for the trailer and the film.

Which Kurt Russell film did Waititi cite as the tonal touchstone for Thor: Ragnarok?

Big Trouble in Little China gave him a model hero: Waititi said Jack Burton is a buffoon but lovable, and he wanted Thor to be the one you want to be with in every scene.

Which 1980 film did Waititi ask every department head to watch before starting work?

Flash Gordon was a film Waititi grew up loving; he said that if Freddie Mercury were alive he would have asked Queen to do the Ragnarok soundtrack.

Roughly what share of Thor: Ragnarok's dialogue did Waititi say was improvised?

80 percent was his estimate: Waititi stands beside the camera yelling new lines at the actors, to keep the mood loose and collaborative.

Where was most of Thor: Ragnarok filmed?

Queensland, Australia hosted the shoot after the film's star asked Marvel to make it in his home country; the production was based on the Gold Coast.

Who plays Heimdall, the gatekeeper hiding Asgard's people from Hela?

Idris Elba's Heimdall steals the sword that controls the Bifröst, so Hela cannot use the bridge to carry her conquest beyond Asgard.

What do Thor and Loki call their old trick of hurling a 'wounded' Loki at guards?

"Get Help" has Thor stagger in with a limp Loki, crying that his brother is dying, then throw him at the guards; Loki calls it humiliating but goes along.

Who suggested Thor's line that the Hulk is 'a friend from work'?

A Make-A-Wish child visiting the set on the day the scene was shot suggested the line to the film's star, and it ended up in the first trailer as well as the film.

Which rock musician wrote Thor: Ragnarok's synth-heavy score?

Mark Mothersbaugh began work after watching a viral video essay that asked why Marvel's scores weren't memorable, and set out to make this one sound different.

Which Willy Wonka song plays during Thor's hologram welcome to the garbage planet?

"Pure Imagination" plays sweetly while a soothing voice tells the strapped-in Thor that he is home, there is no going back and no one leaves.

What does Thor: Ragnarok reveal about the Infinity Gauntlet seen in Odin's vault in the first Thor film?

It was a fake, Hela declares in the vault: Marvel had planted it in Thor as an Easter egg, then realised once Infinity War took shape that it couldn't be the real one.

Whose giant warship looms over Thor's ship in the mid-credits scene of Thor: Ragnarok?

Thanos's flagship Sanctuary II is the vessel, Kevin Feige confirmed, and Avengers: Infinity War opens just after it has intercepted Thor's ship.

Which dead Guardians of the Galaxy character appears in a deleted Thor: Ragnarok scene?

Yondu was never meant to be in the film: James Gunn believed Michael Rooker was on the lot filming the Guardians ride's Halloween version and stopped by the set to goof around.

Which director of Thor: The Dark World declined to return, calling his Marvel experience 'wrenching'?

Alan Taylor said he had absolute freedom while shooting, then saw it turn into 'a different movie' in post-production, something he hoped never to repeat.

Which character was Jaimie Alexander unable to reprise because of her TV series Blindspot?

Sif survives only as a role in Loki's stage play, taken by another actress, because Jaimie Alexander's Blindspot shoot fell at the same time as the film's.

In Thor's tale of being stabbed at age eight, what had Loki turned himself into?

A snake, because Thor loves snakes: he picked it up to admire it, and Loki changed back, cried 'It's me!' and stabbed him.

After trimming Thor: Ragnarok to well under two hours, what did the filmmakers put back in?

Jokes went back in after the 2017 Comic-Con panel: Waititi's first cut had run two hours forty, and he kept testing which gags worked where.

What kind of giant animal is Hela's pet Fenris?

A wolf: Fenris is Hela's giant pet, which threatens Asgard's people on the Bifröst until Banner turns back into the Hulk to fight and beat it.

What name does Thor give the team he assembles to escape the Grandmaster?

The Revengers is what he blurts out when Valkyrie asks if the team has a name; mid-battle with Hela, after his biggest lightning blast does nothing, he suggests disbanding them.

Which nickname from Tony Stark finally unlocks the Quinjet for Thor?

"Point Break" is the name Tony Stark gave him in The Avengers; the Quinjet rejects 'Thor', 'God of Thunder' and 'Strongest Avenger' before he mutters it.

Which country was Thor: Ragnarok's largest market outside the U.S. and Canada?

China's $56.3 million opening weekend was its biggest for a November release, and by itself topped everything Thor: The Dark World had earned there.

Which home-release short sees the Grandmaster move in with Thor's old flatmate?

Team Darryl follows Waititi's two Team Thor mockumentaries: with Thor gone, flatmate Darryl looks for a new roommate and ends up with the Grandmaster.

By his own account, why did Korg's first revolution fail?

He printed too few pamphlets, so hardly anyone turned up except his mum and her boyfriend, whom he hates; fighting as a gladiator was his punishment.

What was the title of Thor: Ragnarok's 2022 sequel?

Thor: Love and Thunder brought Waititi back as director and returned Natalie Portman, who sat out Ragnarok, as a hammer-wielding Mighty Thor.

In Thor: Ragnarok, Hela's Asgardian executioner fights with two M16 rifles that he acquired in which US state?

Texas supplied the pair of rifles carried by the man who took over as guardian of the Bifröst. He ends the film giving his life so that fleeing Asgardians can get away.

In Thor: Ragnarok, what name does Thor give his team of Valkyrie, Loki and Bruce Banner?

The Revengers borrows a name from Marvel comics, where it was once the Avengers' own title in a parody series. Thor's line-up later grows to include two freed gladiators.

Which band did Taika Waititi say he would have hired for Thor: Ragnarok's soundtrack if its singer were alive?

Queen would have been his pick because, with Freddie Mercury out front, the band's feel matched what he called a cool, bold, colourful cosmic adventure.

Which love interest from the first two Thor films has split from Thor by the time of Thor: Ragnarok?

Jane Foster is written out with an off-screen break-up, because Natalie Portman did not come back and Marvel wanted Thor paired with someone more his equal.

Which giant wolf does Hela raise to fight beside her army of risen soldiers in Thor: Ragnarok?

Fenris is finally beaten by the Hulk, who throws the wolf off the edge of Asgard and into space. The effects team used tight framing to sell the animal's enormous size.

Which veteran actor, fresh from a Taika Waititi comedy, plays the Odin actor in Thor: Ragnarok's Asgardian stage play?

Sam Neill joins the film's play-within-a-film, which exists because Waititi reasoned that a Loki in charge would stage a flattering drama about himself and make everyone watch.

Taika Waititi built Thor: Ragnarok on the comic skills Chris Hemsworth showed in Vacation and which 2016 comedy?

Ghostbusters had shown a sillier Hemsworth, who admitted he had grown a bit bored of Thor after playing him four times and wanted to take some risks.

Which relic from the first Avengers film does Loki steal from Odin's vault as Asgard falls in Thor: Ragnarok?

The Tesseract holds the Space Stone, and Loki's sticky fingers have grim consequences: the cube is what a far worse villain comes to take at the start of Avengers: Infinity War.

The stage play Loki commissions in Ragnarok restages his own apparent sacrifice from which earlier film?

Thor: The Dark World ended with Loki secretly alive and wearing Odin's face, so the play he puts on from the throne turns his faked end into a tribute to himself.

Which actor won an NAACP Image Award for playing the all-seeing guardian of the Bifröst in Thor: Ragnarok?

Idris Elba took the supporting actor prize for a part he had played since 2011, reinvented here as a sword-swinging outlaw who lives in the hills.

Which actor returns in Thor: Ragnarok as Thor's adoptive brother, found ruling Asgard in disguise?

Tom Hiddleston said the trickster had spent his stolen reign on narcissistic self-glorification rather than good governance.

Which Oscar winner plays Odin in Thor: Ragnarok, after being told to be funny and reinvent the role?

Anthony Hopkins surprised Waititi with his talent for improvising. His farewell scene was later reshot away from a city alley that distracted from the emotion.

Which actor briefly reprises a Marvel sorcerer who points Thor and Loki toward their father in Thor: Ragnarok?

Benedict Cumberbatch's cameo was judged so fitting a welcome to the wider Marvel saga that the same scene also plays during the credits of his own 2016 film.

Before Thor: Ragnarok, Hulk vanished in the jet that took him to Sakaar after a battle in which fictional country?

Sokovia's fall came two years before the film opens, and Hulk has kept Bruce Banner suppressed the whole time while winning fame as a gladiator.

In Thor: Ragnarok, a demon's crown must be united with what in Odin's vault to destroy Asgard?

The Eternal Flame turns the crown's owner into a mountain-sized giant. Hela finds another use for the same fire, reviving her fallen soldiers with it.

Which Asgardian steals the sword that controls the Bifröst and hides Asgard's citizens from Hela in Thor: Ragnarok?

Heimdall has been living in self-imposed exile since Loki took the throne, which is why a stand-in is minding the gate when Hela arrives.

Hela, the long-imprisoned villain of Thor: Ragnarok, is introduced as the Asgardian goddess of what?

Death is her domain; she is modelled on the Norse figure Hel, though the film ties her by blood to Thor rather than only to Loki as the myths and comics do.

Which band of Thor's old comrades does Hela kill within moments of reaching Asgard in Thor: Ragnarok?

The Warriors Three, Hogun, Volstagg and Fandral, were given what the film's producer called noble ends, there to show just how dangerous Hela is.

In Thor: Ragnarok, what device does a slave trader use to subdue Thor before selling him to the Grandmaster?

An obedience disk is how a fallen Valkyrie, by then a hard-drinking dealer in captives, delivers Thor to the arena as a prize fighter.

What is the name of the Grandmaster's bodyguard, who commands Sakaar's guards, in Thor: Ragnarok?

Topaz is played by Rachel House, a regular in Waititi's films, and loses her life chasing Bruce Banner during the prisoners' riot.

The soft-spoken gladiator made of rocks, played by Taika Waititi in Thor: Ragnarok, belongs to which alien species?

Kronan stone men fought Thor in a 1962 comic, decades before one of them became his friendliest cellmate on screen.

Thor: Ragnarok's Grandmaster lost his blue comic-book skin because his actor had played a blue alien in which film?

Earth Girls Are Easy had already turned him blue back in 1988, and Waititi also did not want make-up hiding the actor's personality.

Which fighting style did the Oscar winner playing Hela study for Thor: Ragnarok while training with stuntwoman Zoë Bell?

Capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian art that mixes combat with dance and acrobatics, was part of her preparation, alongside sessions with Chris Hemsworth's personal trainer.

What did the actor playing Hela's executioner in Thor: Ragnarok do to his own appearance for the role?

Shaved his head, and worked out too, even though the costume hides his body, to feel like a man who he said makes a deal with the devil.

Which comic artist, a co-creator of Thor, was a major visual inspiration for the look of Thor: Ragnarok?

Jack Kirby's art shaped Sakaar above all: the look of the Grandmaster's junkyard realm was drawn chiefly from his pages.

Thor: Ragnarok opens with Thor held captive in which fiery realm, one of the Nine Realms?

Muspelheim was pictured by the film's production designer as a Dyson sphere, a shell drawing power from a dying star to energise whoever lives there.

Pictures of Linda Hamilton in which film inspired the Valkyrie actress while she trained for Thor: Ragnarok?

Terminator 2 and its battle-ready Sarah Connor gave the model for a fighter the director insisted must not be boring and pretty.

Taika Waititi, who made hiring Indigenous crew a priority on Thor: Ragnarok, is of which Indigenous heritage himself?

Māori film-maker Waititi argued that a production bringing money into a country has an even bigger duty to look after people with fewer opportunities.

The composer of Thor: Ragnarok's synth score co-founded which new wave band in the 1970s?

Devo, the band behind Whip It, was fronted by the composer, who set out to make this score as distinctive as possible after a video essay criticised earlier Marvel music as forgettable.

In which US city did Thor: Ragnarok film three weeks of reshoots, including its post-credits scenes?

Atlanta hosted the extra shoot, and one famous guest flew in from New York just to film a cameo in the stage play on a lark.

Thor: Ragnarok borrows the wistful theme The Lonely Man from which 1970s superhero television series?

The Incredible Hulk ran from 1977 to 1982, and Joe Harnell's melancholy theme from it sits beside musical themes reused from the first two Thor films.

Which late-night host staged a low-budget live '4D' version of Thor: Ragnarok with the film's cast?

James Corden had the stars act out scenes in cheap costumes with cardboard props, so the promised 4D screening was really a stage play.

Which actor returns as Thor's Asgardian comrade Fandral for a brief final appearance in Thor: Ragnarok?

Zachary Levi came back alongside Ray Stevenson and Tadanobu Asano, each for a short farewell to a character from the earlier films.

Which Eddie Murphy buddy film helped inspire the road-trip side of Thor: Ragnarok?

48 Hrs. was one of several road movies Waititi drew on for the mismatched pairing of Thor and the Hulk, in a story he said had buddy elements.

What position did Hela hold under Odin before he imprisoned her, as revealed in Thor: Ragnarok?

Leader of Asgard's armies, she conquered the Nine Realms at her father's side until her bloodlust outgrew his plans and he wrote her out of history.

Which part of Hela's look did her actress, filming in a motion-capture suit, wish she could wear on set?

Her headdress, a crown of antler-like horns, struck the actress as a huge part of the character's power.

Rachel House, the Grandmaster's enforcer in Thor: Ragnarok, appeared in which 2016 Taika Waititi comedy?

Hunt for the Wilderpeople also had her coaching its young lead, Julian Dennison, one of several Waititi films on which she has doubled as an acting coach.

Which comic-book villain, able to conjure endless weapons, inspired the same power for Hela in Thor: Ragnarok?

Gorr the God Butcher comes from Jason Aaron's comic Thor: God of Thunder, which also supplied Hela's design, and he reached the screen himself in the 2022 sequel.

In Thor: Ragnarok, the Grandmaster who rules Sakaar belongs to which group of cosmic beings from Marvel comics?

Elders of the Universe such as the Grandmaster enjoy manipulating lesser life-forms, which is why he fills an arena with captured fighters for sport.

The hard-drinking Valkyrie of Thor: Ragnarok is based on which figure from Norse legend?

Brynhildr gave only a loose outline: the actress said the comics' many versions of the character left a lot of leeway for a new one.