‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Director Reveals Why They Changed The Hela Hammer Scene Location

When Thor: Ragnarok dropped its most recent trailer, fans noticed a significant change to a major scene they had scene in trailers before it: Hela destroying Thor’s hammer had suddenly changed its location.

In the early trailers for the upcoming Marvel Studios flick, Cate Blanchett’s villain was seen destroying Mjolnir in an alley way in what was presumed to be New York City. Now, the Goddess of Death destroys the hammer in a green field in Norway, which is the same version which made the cut of the film. Director Taika Waititi explained the change while talking to DigitalSpy.

“Here’s the thing, alley ways aren’t cool,” Waititi joked. “Fields are cool. Ask anyone.”

More seriously, Waititi explained how the scene taking place in New York City would have made things a little too easy for the God of Thunder. Be warned, though, the description contains spoilers for Thor: Ragnarok.

“We originally shot some of that stuff on the set of our stuff in New York,” Waititi said. “What we wanted to do was have them go down to Earth and they see Doctor Strange and stuff but it felt too convenient that he was suddenly just down the road in an alley and also everything, up to then, everything was so fast-paced and all over the place. We wanted to go somewhere peaceful and actually chill out with those characters and be with Odin while he imparts this wisdom and stuff and not have to hear stupid yellow cabs honking out the back.”

The new environment lent itself to the moment Odin and his boys were having together. “It just felt like a terrible environment to have a scene that could be very emotional for what happens with Odin and the boys, and the first time we’ve seen the three guys all together, and him telling them he loves them and acknowledging Loki as his son,” Waititi said. “It was just very important for us to be in a beautiful peaceful environment.”

Thor: Ragnarok hits theaters November 3, 2017.