'Thor: Ragnarok' Effects Guru on the Challenge of the Valkyrie Fight

Now that Thor: Ragnarok has finally hit home video release, fans can pore over all of the intricate details in the Marvel Studios epic from the comfort of their own homes.

One of the most visually stunning scenes in the film — in which the Valkyries do battle with Hela — was also one of the most challenging to complete. Visual Effects Supervisor Jake Morrison spoke with ComicBook.com about the scene and how it was inspired by Nightmare on Elm Street.

"We see this sort of frozen time moment, which is that sort of nightmarish, you know the idea of a nightmare like they used to do in the Freddy Krueger films. Where you're running as fast as you can, but you're actually in slow motion, everyone's moving like tree core," said Morrison. "We wanted to try to capture that feel of the sort of powerlessness and the helplessness, but also do something.

"It's actually relatively straightforward to find a high speed camera, and shoot people in slow motion. I mean, that's something that we've been doing for years. But, we wanted to try and find something that would make the sequence stand apart from really all the other ones, that have been done."

Morrsion explained they set up an intricate lighting rig that allowed them to capture the unique look in slow motion, and that he was in charge for this daunting task while director Taika Waititi filmed a different sequence with Cate Blanchett at the same time.

"So, for me it was really interesting, because Taika was shooting Cate's fight, the main fight in the square when she kills all the gods. And so, he trusted me," Morrison said. "And the great thing about working with the actors on something like that is, you're sort of saying, 'well you're running towards the baddy, Valkyrie's sister is coming to defend you, and the moment that as you're lunging forward you see the sword go through her chest, but you have to try and compress those moments into a half a second's worth of acting.' Once I think Tessa got the hang of it she was amazing. So, it's super rewarding to be able to do that."

The scene was pivotal in explaining why Valkyrie went into hiding and has been living in a drunken stupor ever since barely surviving the battle against Hela.

"It's about a minute sequence of the film, but it uses more or less every single trick in the book that we've got to try and come up with something that hopefully stands that sequence, but also it's really emotional moment, and it's actually kind of Valkyrie's pivotal moment in the film," Morrison said. "It's when you understand why she's rolling around drunk all day. And this gives her an emotion depth. And Taika was really, really keen on that. He wanted to make sure that we used this moment to make sure that she was a three dimensional character."

Thor: Ragnarok is now available on Digital HD.

What did you think about this scene? Be sure to join the discussion in our shiny new comments section!