Among Taika Waititi’s sets which were practically built for Thor: Ragnarok is a marketplace located on Sakaar.
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The marketplace, which was brought to vividly colorful life by the iconic production designer Dan Hennah (The Hobbit trilogy, Alice Through The Looking Glass), was not an active set during ComicBook.com’s visit to the production of Thor: Ragnarok in Australia. Many of the extra pieces which will call the set home and liven it up were pushed aside or wrapped up but the vibrant life of this location was easily conveyed, regardless.
Stepping onto the set, eyes feast immediately upon the intense blue, orange, red, and teal colors lining the marketplace. Every bit of wall (which is already shaped in triangles or circles, rather than traditional squares or rectangles) is covered with an intense glowing color. In the middle, trading posts fill the area as various cosmic objects are for sale. On one side, a cosmic treadmill and more otherworldly exercise-centric pieces of the set’s design are lumped together. They’ve been dismantled for this day but will likely be glowing with colors and electronic features in their theatrical appearances.
It is all heavily influenced by the work of Marvel Comics icon Jack Kirby.
“It’s mostly about Thor being chased by the Hulk through the streets, things being knocked over,” Hennah said. “That will take place in a different colored streets but in here, you can see a lot Kirby symbology. A lot of colors from those early comics, those comics of the 60’s that reflect colors.”
Walking to the back of the location, a curved and long staircase escorts visitors to the alleys of Sakaar’s cities. The colors remain but unusual shapes and structures bulge from walls and out of rooftops. On one end, a vending machine offers cosmic goods, loaded with text similar to that of Star-Lord’s grey shirt in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
“There’s a few weird, wacky things you’ll see around that are just… like food dispensers. Food here comes in packages,” Hennah explained. “It’s all little packets of protein and things like this. There are things on the wall. There are vendor stores.”
According to Hennah, the worm hole which will bring Thor to the wasteland which leads him to becoming a prisoner on Sakaar is visible from this location. “Sakaar is populated by aliens,” Hennah said. “The sky in Sakaar has a number of wormholes that deposit space waste, basically, and if you’re flying through space you can get caught in a wormhole and you can end up on Sakaar. It’s a bit of a sewer.”
Those wormholes will be how the Hulk ultimately found himself on the planet. “Last time we saw Hulk, he was flying away in the Quinjet,” Hennah said. “Well, he hit one of those wormholes and he ends up here.”
Thor: Ragnarok hits theaters November 3, 2017. Advance tickets are now on sale wherever tickets are sold.
