SDCC: What You Want to Know – Pt. II

Let’s talk about the one no one saw coming, Thor: Ragnarok.

Thor hasn’t exactly had a formidable standalone film compared to the other Avengers (but his brother Loki has had three). That said, obviously he would need to have his own third one, just like the other front runners of the Avengers team. However, I don’t think anyone really cares that much (except for me because, no offense Cap, Loki…err Thor is my favourite). No one seemed to care about his other films, so why care about this one? So then when the brilliant Taika Waititi was chosen as this film’s director, I don’t think anyone realised Marvel probably just made one of their best decisions. Ever.

Who is Taika Waitit? I’m glad you asked. *cracks knuckles* Taika Waititi is one of those foreign film makers not many know about outside of their country of origin. Unless, like Taika, you make incredibly brilliant films which puts you on the global stage. Boy. What We Do in the Shadows. Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Eagle vs Shark. Basically, he’s like the Kiwi (New Zealand) version of Wes Anderson without the emphasis on symmetry, perfected scenic design, specified colour palettes, and static shots. What he has instead is his bizarre sense of humour, Kiwi-style.

Kiwi sense of humour is hard to explain, and I’m still wrapping my head around it myself as the American I am. However, when your best friend is a born and bred, proud, stereotypical Kiwi bloke, you learn it rather quickly. I’ve tried explaining it to my American friends that it’s like Chris Farley meets Monty Python, but even that seems like a pathetically less than adequate description. It’s definitely on the dark side, but beyond that, my words fail to articulate the essence that is Kiwi humour. Regardless, it’s gut-wrenchingly hilarious.

Only, it’s not just Taika’s impeccable sense of humour that he’s bringing to Thor: Ragnarok. It’s everything else he is as a director too. New Zealand has always had a successful film industry besides what’s attributed to Peter Jackson. He just made New Zealand mainstream. That said, the rest of the world has yet to tap into their filming resources waiting to be unleashed on the world. Weta Workshop is just the tip of the iceberg. With bringing Taika to the helm of Thor: Ragnarok, Marvel is beginning to open that door wider into the realm of the New Zealand film industry. And they couldn’t have chosen anyone better.

Taika Waititi, in my opinion as a fan of his previous work, is an observer of the human condition, of our fears, sorrows, hopes, and dreams. He has this way of breaking down barriers through laughter, poignantly presenting scenarios of such cringe-worthy awkwardness you can easily empathise with, when suddenly you find yourself on a journey of self-transformation through his characters. (He also does a lot of his own writing, so that helps.) If anything, he’s going to humanise Thor in a way we haven’t seen yet.

Thus far in his onscreen career, Thor has felt rather two-dimensional, and using a love interest isn’t the way to bring out that much needed third dimension. We got a taste of it in Thor: The Dark World through the deepening of his relationship with Loki, and especially when Loki (apparently) died. Which, by the way…

The fact that in the trailer Loki suddenly appears before Thor in chains without any previous context is just cruel. How did Loki end up on the same world? Where is Odin? Does Thor know at that point Loki is alive? How is he coping if not? Last time he saw his mischievous brother, as far as we know, was as he laid his cold, dead (ish) body on the ground of Svartalfheim. Oh, but wait! In the Doctor Strange end scene, he discusses bringing his brother to New York and needing Strange’s help. WHAT IS GOING ON?!

A few things worth mentioning: Taika wrote and directed the Doctor Strange end scene; he also created the Team Thor short film of the god of lightning living a “normal” human life in Australia. If anything, with the promotional material they’ve released, I say we have very concrete evidence of Thor’s character finally making that full arch of development we all knew was possible, but never executed. Until now.

Also, with Taika directing, Thor: Ragnarok has become obviously quite eighties in production design. (A brilliant decision, if I do say so myself.) I mean, the music for the first two trailers we’ve gotten? First “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin (I know, it’s technically from 1970), and then this new band who came out of nowhere, Magic Sword? Seriously, though. The music in the new trailer was so quintessentially eighties synth, I had to look up who it was, and when I discovered it was this new band, Magic Sword, I listened to their entire first album. Several times. Electronic perfection.

Whatever final decisions Taika is making or not, he obviously cast a very specific, unique vision for his creative team that is definitely making this final Thor installment look spectacular. Not mention the new cast members: Jeff Goldblum, THE Cate Blanchett, dear Karl Urban (another Kiwi), and, but of course, the return of the incomparable Thomas. Hiddleston.

I could keep going, but I had better stop for your sakes. Unfortunately, I haven’t even begun to analyse the actual footage of the film we were shown, sans Magic Sword’s addition. Except, I haven’t even mentioned the one thing that Taika is so carefully, so strategically hiding, toying with us fangirls who have but one true love, besides the aforementioned Tom: Benedict. Cumberbatch.

The man himself is confirmed to be in the new film, and if I should give Taika credit for anything, it’s that he’s not revealed a single. darn. thing of the Doctor in the new trailer. Without the end scene, we would be starved for material. That said, knowing fully well who Benedict’s character is to our beloved Tom’s Loki, HE HAD BETTER GIVE US ONE VERBAL SPARRING MATCH BETWEEN THESE TWO ILLUSTRIOUS ACTORS OR I’LL TAKE BACK EVERYTHING I SAID. There, I mentioned it.

So in conclusion, it was a good year at Comic Con, albeit a little less “empty” without any Sherlock or daresay Hobbit panels, but that’s what Marvel and Star Wars are for.

Some honourable mentions:

Weta Workshop, who has always given us sublime recreations of their characters with to-scale models, unveiled a new line of collectibles at SDCC, an answer to Funko! Pops I would presume. They are vinyl figurines, what they are calling Mini Epics. Their version of Gollum is downright adorable, if you’re even allowed to describe such a character with such an adjective. They’re designed by the Weta Team themselves in their Wellington studio, and are very reasonably priced as such. Check them out here.

While I’ve only watched the Star Trek: Discovery extended trailer, this new chapter in the saga looks incredible. My only desire is that Jason Isaacs plays a good guy. He’s fantastic as a baddie, one of the best really, but I want him to “win” just once in something I watch of his.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle looks like a promising sequel to the brilliant Kingsman: The Secret Service, there’s just too many Americans in it for me.