“Team Thor” Videos Lead to Renewed Interest in Marvel’s “Ragnarok” (Things We Love)

While I appreciated the Shakespearean elements of the first Thor movie and Tom Hiddleston’s performance as Loki, I thought it was half of a good movie, and the “dark elves” of the sequel just didn’t appeal to me. Which is why my excitement for Thor: Ragnarok is such a big deal.

I would estimate that 90 percent of the credit for my renewed interest lies with director Taika Waititi, an outside-the-box choice to direct a big-budget comic book movie if there ever was one. Waititi (Flight of the Conchords, Hunt for the Wilderpeople) has a unique comic sensibility and you can see it on display in the new Team Thor short (posted above) that Marvel released online Tuesday.

The first Team Thor short (posted below) dropped at Comic-Con last summer and was the talk of Marvel’s presentation. The film introduced us to Thor’s new roommate Darryl, who kept the Asgardian God of Thunder company while he waited by the phone to hear from the rest of the Avengers.

The latest short elaborates on their roommate problems, with Darryl upset about Thor not working and paying his rent with a foreign currency. Then again, what the hell is he going to do about it? It’s not like knowledge is power. If it was, muscle-bound Thor would be covered in brains.

It’s these short videos that signal to me that Marvel and Waititi are cooking up something a little different with Thor: Ragnarok, and I for one welcome the change. Chris Hemsworth has a knack for comedy, and hopefully the new film will embrace that side of him.

Disney will release the superhero movie on Nov. 3, so expect a proper trailer this spring.

 Jeff Sneider | Editor in Chief