Thor: Ragnarok Director Explains the Major Change They Made to Set Up Avengers: Endgame

Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi explained why they made a major change to the movie to set up Avengers: Endgame. He’s hosting a live watch party on Instagram Live Thursday evening. Thanos laying waste to the Asgardians at the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War was a shock. But, nothing quite like the revelation of New Asgard becoming a bustling community on Earth in Endgame. The director revealed that Marvel brass asked him to make some changes to set up the big reveal without giving up the entire game for the big conclusion to the Infinity Saga.

“For various reasons we wanted to get them out of New York and to get them to this place to set up New Asgard in Avengers: Endgame,” Waititi explained. But, weirdly enough, there was another reason for some of the tweaks to the story. The director told the familiar story of changing the scene of Odin’s demise from New York to the field. Test audiences weren’t as invested in seeing him die in that alleyway as a homeless person. But, in the past, the director has had to address it.

“Here’s the thing, alley ways aren’t cool,” Waititi slyly said. “Fields are cool. Ask anyone. We originally shot some of that stuff on the set of our stuff in New York. 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.”

Marvel’s updated release schedule sees Black Widow arriving in theaters on November 6. It is followed Eternals on February 12, 2021, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on May 5 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on November 5, 2021, Thor: Love and Thunder on February 18, 2022, Black Panther 2 on May 6, 2022, and Captain Marvel 2 on July 8, 2022. Disney+ also has The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, WandaVision, Loki, What If…? Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, and Moon Knight on the way.

What role do you think New Asgard will play in Thor: Love and Thunder? Let us know in the comments!

Thor: Ragnarok is streaming on Disney+.