‘Thor: Ragnarok’: Dark Tones, Two New Leads, & Hulk Smash?

For his next solo franchise film, Thor is setting the bar high by bringing in a fellow Avenger to help him crush his enemies even more completely. The Asgardian god is also adding a bit of female flavor to the mix in “Thor: Ragnarok” with a beloved female superhero and supervillain from the comic books joining the cast.

According to a report from JoBlo, the green and mean Avenger will be showing up in the god of thunder’s upcoming solo film to join him in his exploits. Mark Ruffalo is set to join “Thor” regulars Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston and Jamie Alexander in the third installment of the superhero franchise.

Although the report confirmed Hiddleston’s participation in the film, the acclaimed actor previously expressed his doubts saying he doesn’t know what the future holds for Loki.

BMD are reporting that Thor: Raganrok will be a “dark, serious” movie that focuses upon the end of the Norse world. This seems to be the reason for the surprising choice of Taika Waititi as director. Waititi’s previous films are the low-budget New Zealand comedies What We Do in the Shadows and Eagle Vs Shark, a world away from the spectacular superhero action of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. BMD’s sources suggest that Waititi has been brought in to “balance out the grimness” of the Thor: Raganrok script.

It has also been rumoured that the Hulk will play a big part of the film’s story. The Hulk is the one major Marvel character that hasn’t had any further standalone movies announced, which some have suggested is because Universal still own the distribution rights to any future Hulk films, rather than Disney.

But JoBlo.com have now revealed that the Hulk, played by Mark Ruffalo, will “feature prominently” in the next Thor movie. It will also see Tom Hiddleston return as Loki, the villainous brother of Chris Hemsworth’s title character.

Aside from the Hulk teaming up with his fellow Avenger, the new film will also feature two important female characters from the comic book universe. According to a report from Birth.Movies.Death, iconic heroine Valkyrie will be making her debut on the big-screen for “Thor: Ragnarok.” Since she was originally introduced in the comic books as part of her enemy The Enchantress’ story, it’s also possible that The Enchantress will be part of the final super-beings roster of the upcoming film.

Details on their roles in Thor and The Hulk’s “cosmic road trip” are unclear, but the addition of even more formidable women in the cast will likely set “Thor: Ragnarok” apart from its other male-dominated contemporaries.

The previous Thor movie, Thor: The Dark World, was released in November 2013. It has earned more than $644 million worldwide, making it the sixth most successful of Marvel’s films to date. Thor: Raganrok is due to be released on November 3, 2017.

Source(s): Marvel, JoBlo, & BMD (Birth.Movies.Death)