By David Betancourt, The Washington Post
Marvel Studios’ God of Thunder has yet to send us a new theatrical bolt from the blue.
Of all the cinematic superhero offerings this year will bring — including “The Lego Batman Movie” (Feb. 10), “Logan” (March 3), “Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2” (May 5), “Wonder Woman” (June 2), “Spider-Man: Homecoming” (July 7) and “Justice League” (Nov. 17) — “Thor: Ragnarok” (Nov. 3) remains the only one that has yet to release a trailer.
Over the summer, Marvel Studios released a quick and funny video during San Diego Comic Con featuring Chris Hemsworth explaining why Thor was absent from “Captain America: Civil War,” but other than that, we’ve seen nothing new in regards to the character.
With so many superhero trailers being released in 2016, perhaps Marvel Studios thought it would be best to hold off on releasing any new looks at “Thor: Ragnarok” because the film won’t arrive in theaters until later this year.
Another reason could be the high-profile gamma-radiated and green co-star who will fight alongside (or against?) Thor in “Ragnarok,” the Incredible Hulk. A CGI character with such a big role is probably quite time-consuming in the editing process and perhaps the Hulk’s parts in “Ragnarok” are still being tweaked.
The only thing we know so far about the Hulk’s presence in “Thor: Ragnarok” is that Mark Ruffalo will be reprising his role as Bruce Banner/Hulk and that the Hulk’s body armor from the “Planet Hulk” story from the pages of Marvel Comics (in which the Hulk becomes a warrior/champion on a distant planet) will appear. (This, too, was revealed at San Diego Comic Con.)
The Hulk’s armor reveal so far is the biggest inside look we’ve had into “Thor: Ragnarok,” but it brings about more questions for the movie, such as:
- How much of the “Planet Hulk” story can you fit into a movie that isn’t an “Incredible Hulk” movie? This is Thor’s movie, after all.
- Now that Natalie Portman is no longer a part of the Thor movie franchise, will there be any romance? Will actress Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie fill a romantic void in “Ragnarok?”
- Will Thor go on a mission to find the Hulk? If so, will they be allies? Enemies? One of the most fun moments for fans in the first “Avengers” movie was when Thor and the Hulk traded punches with each other, a nod to the many times in the comics these two went at it to see who was the strongest there is in the Marvel universe. Can a movie featuring Thor and the Hulk provide another round of blows?
- Will this be the last Thor movie? This is the third movie in the franchise, after “Thor” (2011) and “Thor: The Dark World” (2013). Will “Ragnarok” and the next two “Avengers” movies be it for Hemsworth as Thor?
- Could this movie be a rebirth for the Hulk movie franchise, assuming Marvel Studios (who controls Thor) could work out a deal with Universal (who controls the Hulk) similar to the one they did with Sony to make “Spider-Man: Homecoming”? Also, is “Thor: Ragnarok” the start of a new movie format for Marvel, one that has the feel of Marvel Comics’ “Marvel Team-Up” comic books from the 70s and 80s?
Perhaps only Mjolnir knows. Until then, we continue to wait for our first look at “Thor: Ragnarok.”
