LOS ANGELES _ There are two critical elements to making a movie based on a comic book work: an interesting hero and a captivating villain. In the case of the majority of films spawned from the Marvel Comics universe, there is often more than one champion for good and one enveloped in evil.
"Thor: Ragnarok" features numerous heroes, including two of the biggest names in the comic book world in Thor and Hulk, and the introduction of a new defender of what's right.
THOR (CHRIS HEMSWORTH)
The Aussie actor has played the god of thunder since originating the character on the big screen in 2011 in "Thor." The journey of Asgard's most famous champion has been one of love, loss, discovery and change. "Thor: Ragnarok" puts him through as many huge changes as all of his past works combined.
From a very dramatic haircut given to Thor by a very familiar face to his being stripped of his hammer, this is a new Thor. Hemsworth doesn't see all the changes to the character as being what really sets this film apart from all his past works. He credits director Taika Waititi's unique vision with making "Ragnarok" unlike the other versions.
Getting to that place meant big changes for Thor.
"I wanted to do something vastly different than what we'd done before and take it to a different place. That meant kind of doing away with what we knew and just reinventing it. It all came from his crazy, wonderful brain, and his inspiration, and him pushing us every day on set, and constantly encouraging us to improvise, and exploring, and take risks," Hemsworth says. "It was one of the most enjoyable experiences I've ever had on a set and a film that I feel the most proud of."
It's easy to spot the visual changes to the character, but this Thor is also very different in tone. Waititi was able to maintain the high level of action while cranking up the humor. Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, is excited Hemsworth is able to show in "Ragnarok" a broader range of his acting abilities.
A lot of that acting involves scenes with Thor and the Hulk. In the past, their biggest interaction was in a fight scene. But for this film, the actors got to do a lot of improvising to build a bond between the two heroes.
HULK (MARK RUFFALO)
The reason Thor and Hulk had time to bond is unlike past movies, the time the green hero was on screen was limited. Most of the time, Ruffalo was seen in the less smashing version of the character in Bruce Banner.
Ruffalo took over playing the Hulk in the 2012 release "The Avengers." Unlike Edward Norton, Eric Bana or even Lou Ferrigno, Ruffalo has not been able to play the character in a solo movie. He would love to take on his own movie, and that seemed to be a possibility before he was cast in "Thor: Ragnarok."
"Kevin had asked me to come over and have a script meeting. And basically he sat me down and he said, 'What would you like to do if you had a stand-alone Hulk movie?' And I said, 'I'd like to do this, this, and this; and this and this _ and then this. And then this, and this, and this, and then it would end like this.'
"And he's like, 'I love that. Let's do that over the next there movies, starting with 'Thor 3' and carry it on through 'Avengers 3' and 'Avengers 4.' And so that's my stand-alone Hulk movie."
One of the ideas he pitched had to be based on the "Planet Hulk" storyline from the comic books. "Thor: Ragnarok" opens with Thor being captured and forced to fight in an arena like a gladiator. He's delighted to see the Hulk has been selected as his opponent because they are "friends from work."
Once the pair have finished their battle, they begin the process of trying to escape with the help from a bounty hunter known as Valkyrie.
VALKYRIE (TESSA THOMPSON)
The character of Valkyrie that was introduces in 1970 in issue number 83 of "The Avengers" comic book is very different looking from Thompson. The Asgardian by birth looks more like a Swedish model on the printed page. The announcement of her casting sparked some very negative _ and racial _ comments.
Thompson, whose past work includes "Heroes" and "Westworld," was only concerned that she looked strong enough to pull off playing such a rough-and-tumble character.
"The things that I thought about the particulars of Valkyrie had more to do with mass and size. For example, I thought, like 'Oh, I'm _ I'm short.' Or, 'I'm not buff enough.' Or how she's arguably as strong as Thor. How do I stand next to a person like Chris Hemsworth and feel like that's true," Thompson says. "I didn't think so much about satisfying Norse mythology.
"It's mystifying, and fantastical, and glorious, and also very confusing and doesn't make a lot of sense, you know."
Thompson was finally able to handle the work without too many second guesses by realizing that any character she's asked to play _ superhero or not _ has its own iconography. She decided the best way to deal with that is to capture the spirit of the character and stresses the work has very little to do with the color of a person's skin.
