Thor: Ragnarok Teaser Trailer: Thor Goes Gladiator

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Asgard burns and Thor enters the arena in the Thor: Ragnarok Teaser.

Marvel released the teaser trailer for Thor: Ragnarok, and it features Thor (Chris Hemsworth) as you haven’t seen him before. Thor begins the teaser with an overdub, and states, “I know what you are thinking, how did this happen?” The answer to that question is explosive, and so is the impact of the rest of the teaser trailer.

Hela Heralds Ragnarok

One of the standout features of the teaser is the character of Hela. Portrayed by Cate Blanchett, Hela makes an immediate impression. Thor hurls Mjolnir at the Asgardian Goddess of Death only to see her catch the hammer. Furthermore, with a compression of her fingers, the mighty hammer of Thor shatters and explodes. Hela doesn’t stop there. She proclaims to an Asgardian army that Asgard is dead as she unleashes her fury and heralds Ragnarok. In Norse mythology, Ragnarok is a series of events that culminates in the death of Norse gods followed by the destruction and rebirth of the world. Ragnarok seems an apt title from this film.

Thor in Exile

Thor’s troubles are just beginning. Next, he finds himself on another world. The inhabitants appears as a mixture of beings straight out of Guardians of the Galaxy and the streets of Jedha in Rogue One. In addition, they have no love for Thor. He is quickly subdued, captured, and brought before the Grandmaster, played by Jeff Goldblum. Thor’s captor

The Gladiator

After losing Mjolnir to Hela, Thor is of course without his iconic weapon. In the original Thor, this left him powerless when Odin exiled him from Asgard and deemed him unworthy. Thor does not appear similarly disadvantaged here. Although his power may be diminished, he proves a tempting combatant to the Grandmaster, who casts him into the arena. In his first bout, Thor comes face-to-face with a familiar combatant: the Hulk. Roaring in fury, Hulk leaps into the arena to begin combat with a momentarily confused Thor.

The Costumes of Ragnarok

Ragnarok is more than just a Thor adventure. Hulk brings his own iconic story to this tale. In the pages of Marvel comics, the Illuminati banished Hulk to space. He arrived on another planet where he too was forced to fight in an arena. Eventually, he freed himself and conquered his oppressors in the Planet Hulk storyline. Marvel has brought Hulk’s gladiator style from Planet Hulk to Ragnarok.

Of course, Hulk is not the only hero with a new look. Once transformed into a gladiator, Thor adopts the style. Gone are his long golden, Norse locks and his Asgardian armor. In their place is a shorn crop of hair and a suit of armor that is much more Roman in appearance.

Hela practically springs forth from the pages of the comics. She has two appearances. The first appears in the teaser when she confronts Thor and destroys the hammer. The second is a more traditional look for the Goddess of Death as she dons her traditional head piece. Her appearance then resembles what would expect from the Queen of Hel and Niflheim. Although she was intimidating before, she is even more so then.

Other Familiar Faces

Thor and Hulk are not the only familiar faces in this teaser. Despite a different set of armor and style, Idris Elba returns as Heimdall, the all-seeing and all-hearing. Perhaps the biggest crowd pleaser of them all, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki returns tossing knives and plotting with the Grandmaster.

The Hype for Ragnarok Begins

Despite the familiarity, Ragnarok promises new elements as well. The Valkyrie briefly soars in the skies aboard a winged horse. Alien starships zip through several frames of the teaser. Thor fights with something other than a hammer. Plus, the graphics hearken back to a style from the 80s. This movie has the feel of a mystical adventure the likes of which often graced movie screens in the 70s and 80s. Absent from Captain America: Civil War, Thor and Hulk return in a major way. The hype for this movie will be huge, and this teaser kicks it all off. Above all, Thor: Ragnarok promises to serve up a heaping of fun while resetting Thor’s mythos. November can’t get here fast enough.