Based on Taika Waititi’s recent slate of interviews – interviews in which he addressed a nixed LGBT scene and an alternate take on the post-credits stinger – the Thor: Ragnarok Blu-ray is shaping up to be a must-own for Marvel aficionados. And it seems we’ve merely scratched the surface.
During Empire’s exposé on the intricacies of Ragnarok, Taika Waititi confirmed that the film’s final act originally included a reference to The Avengers, Joss Whedon’s team-up movie that assembled Earth’s Mightiest Heroes back in 2012. One of the most memorable and downright hilarious scenes from that movie involved Hulk punching Thor out of frame for no apparent reason, and it appears an early cut of Ragnarok featured Mark Ruffalo’s Jade Giant doing the same to Loki, God of Mischief.
They all land on the bridge – Thor, Loki and then Hulk. They stand for a second. Then Hulk just smashes Loki, punches him out of the frame – just like in Avengers, when Hulk did it to Thor. It was a crowd favourite, but we just had to get rid of it for time. It might be on the DVD.
And though Waititi and his team planned to introduce a tired, world-weary Odin wandering around New York City, the filmmaker ultimately decided to relocate the Norse god to the much more appropriate setting of Norway, as test screenings found the original cut far too disheartening.
But don’t fret; if you want to see Hulk’s knockout punch and Odin moseying around the Big Apple, the threequel’s home video release should include both:
What we wanted originally was for Thor and Loki to find Odin in New York, living on the streets, Fisher King style. There was something really cool and interesting about that, and I think that might be on the DVD, that version. But something about having him there and then dying made a lot of audiences in our test screenings feel too sorry for him. It was such a bummer seeing the great king of Asgard stuck in New York. We preferred the idea he’d be in some mystical Norse environment.
Thor: Ragnarok initially debuted late last week for those in the States, and it’s already accumulated more than $400 million at the global box office. Expect that number to climb over the coming weeks, when Marvel’s spacefaring romp will face stiff competition from Justice League – another comic book movie projected for a huge domestic opening.