‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Gladiator Look Was a Difficult Task

The God of Thunder underwent many changes in the third film in his trilogy, including a drastic […]

March 4, 2018, 3:27am

The God of Thunder underwent many changes in the third film in his trilogy, including a drastic change to his appearance.

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Marvel Studios Visual Development Supervisor Andy Park helped crafted the new look in Thor: Ragnarok, and he called it the most difficult task he had on the new film, trying to find the right look for Odinson’s gladiator look.

“That’s the one where Taika [Waititi, Thor: Ragnarok director] really … he wanted us to go full on Jack Kirby. He wanted us to embrace the idea of Sakaar being garbage world, so a lot of disparate parts, and he just wanted like different armor pieces to be on Thor,” Park said. “He didn’t want any of them to look like they belonged together, and as a designer, that’s like going against everything [you know].

“How do make something look cool, and still have everything, and every color of the rainbow. He didn’t just want it to be like all cool black or dark colored armor. He wanted it to be like primaries, just like Jack Kirby. Primary red, primary blue, primary yellow, and none of the pieces should look like they belong in the same set.”

Waititi has spoken at length about the influence Jack Kirby has had on his film’s aesthetic, with Marvel Studios ripping many of the King’s legendary creations straight from the page, including the design of Hela. Park revealed that Waititi’s mandate to make the film feel like the beginning of a brand new franchise included the God of Thunder’s classic look.

“So as a designer that was really challenging, so we did designs that made us really uncomfortable,” Park said. “It was very difficult. But he wanted to go there. He wanted to show the audience that this is something very different, and which I think he did, but at the end of the day, yeah, those designs, going that direction was proven to go too far, so we pretty much had to pull it back, and it was pretty much Thor’s look that I designed with some additional shoulder piece, and the leg piece, and the arm piece, those pieces were designed by the costume … department, and Mayes Rubeo.”