‘Thor: Ragnarok’: Karl Urban on How He Was Convinced to Play Skurge

While supporting characters like Valkyrie, The Grandmaster, and Korg got all the attention in Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok, we tend to overlook one of the film’s most hilarious additions: Skurge.

Played by Star Trek‘s Karl Urban, Skurge had no shortage of great one-liners throughout the film, in addition to what is certainly one of Ragnarok‘s most pivotal character arcs.

During his panel at Dallas Fan Days 2018, Urban was asked what drew him to the role of Skurge, and why he chose to board Ragnarok. While his love of Marvel films definitely helped, the actor wasn’t shy about saying that co-star Cate Blanchett and director Taika Waititi were the biggest reasons he came on board.

“Yeah, it was an amazing experience. It really was,” Urban said of the film. “I really enjoyed working Cate Blanchett, who — you know, we’ve been in Lord of The Rings together, but didn’t actually share any scenes together. You know that was one of the main reasons for me deciding to do that. I got a call from Taika [Waititi] saying ‘Listen, I’m shooting this movie, there’s great role in it. Have a look at it. I’ll send you some concept art of the character.’ Which looked rad, shaved head, armor. I read the script and saw that there was quite a fantastic arc for the character and I really responded to that. That he was really a survivalist, that he started his journey in one place and then had to do a deal with the devil and the cost of that was and then how he really came back at the end and ended up doing the right thing morally. Which was a fantastic little arc.”

“And I just loved working, I loved working with Taika and obviously, Cate and we had a lot of fun,” Urban continued. “It’s a pleasure to be a part of that Marvel universe which I had really enjoyed seeing many of those Marvel films.”

Unlike Lord of the Rings, Urban and Blanchett actually shared plenty of scenes together in Thor: Ragnarok, as their characters’ stories were tied very close together. It’s still a bit sad to think that Skurge died in the film, but we can always keep our fingers crossed that all those Avengers 4 time travel rumors give characters like him a second chance, right?

What did you think of Karl Urban‘s performance as Skurge in Thor: Ragnarok? Would you like to see him return to Marvel in the future? Let us know in the comments!