Thor: Ragnarok is the last Marvel Studios movie we’ll get in 2017, but it has certainly started to build a buzz quickly, since releasing its first trailer. Director Taika Waititi has done something very different with the look and tone of his Thor movie, creating something that looks more in line with Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy than a Norse-themed swords and sandals epic.
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As with any Marvel movie, there will be certain liberties taken with the characters and storylines of Thor: Ragnarok, and one of the most obvious ones (besides the look of Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie), his been the design of Jeff Goldblum‘s character, The Grandmaster.
In The Comics
…In the comics, The Grandmaster (En Dwi Gast) is an ageless cosmic being, known as one of the Elders of the Universe. He is a master of strategy and gaming, which he indulges in by pitting opposing teams against one another in combat, often with high stakes.
The Grandmaster is also a sibling (of sorts) of fellow Elder The Collector, who we already met in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, played by Benicio Del Toro in Guardians of the Galaxy.
In the comics, The Grandmaster is a blue-skinned humanoid who looks like a curmudgeonly old man. Obviously, that’s not what Jeff Goldblum looks like in Thor: Ragnarok – and now we know why…
In The Movie
In Thor: Ragnarok, Jeff Goldblum retains a more natural (albeit tanned) skin tone. Director Taika Waittit recently spoke with IGN about why the decision was made to change The Grandmaster’s appearance from comic book canon, and as it turns out, there were some clear aesthetic reasons for doing so.
As Taika Waititi explained, he didn’t want Goldblum to go blue, “Because he did another movie where he was blue,” referring to the 1988 sci-fi/comedy, Earth Girls Are Easy, in which Goldblum, Damon Wayans, and Jim Carrey play furry, bright-colored aliens, hiding out at Geena Davis’ house (ah the ’80s…).
Aside from making Goldblum repeat some makeup horrors of his past, Waititi also said that he didn’t wish to cover up the greatness that is Jeff Goldblum’s face with all that blue paint (maybe he didn’t say it quite in those words, but the sentiment is clear: Jeff Goldblum’s face is a monument).
Of course, the trade off is that Goldblum’s Grandmaster is already becoming one of the most viciously mocked characters in the MCU – which is fine, since it’ll put him right in the company of Del Toro’s Elton John version of The Collector.
Slide 3
SYNOPSIS: Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok – the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization – at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger – The Incredible Hulk!”
The cast features Chris Hemsworth in the title role for the fifth time; Tom Hiddleston as Thor’s adversarial, adopted brother, Loki; Idris Elba as the Asgardian sentry, Heimdall; Sir Anthony Hopkins again portraying Odin, Ruler of Asgard; Mark Ruffalo reprising his role of Bruce Banner/the Hulk; Cate Blanchett as the mysterious and powerful new villain Hela; Jeff Goldblum as the eccentric Grandmaster; Tessa Thompson bring the classic hero Valkyrie to life on the big screen; and Karl Urban will add his might to the fray as Skurge.
Thor: Ragarok will be in theaters on November 3, 2017.
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