Five Spoiler-y Takeaways From Thor: Ragnarok’s Set Visit

Almost a year ago, Marvel Studios opened the doors to the set of Thor: Ragnarok. ComicBook.com was in attendance for a visit to the Australian set and got lots of spoiler-y scoop for the next big Marvel Cinematic Universe adventure.

The visit included a tour of Thor: Ragnarok‘s concept art room — which unveiled several key locations which will factor into the film, included Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Santorum and a new realm called Muspelheim. These are hardly the most revealing details observed during the time on set, however.

Potentially major spoilers for Thor: Ragnarok follow.

From Hela’s power set to a potential appearance from the Guardians of the Galaxy, check out the video above for a breakdown of ComicBook.com’s five biggest takeaways from Thor: Ragnarok‘s set or read on below!

Hela Powerful

Hela is not only based on her classic character, but also mixed with a villain known as Gorr the God Butcher to make her more powerful, specifically, she has his power set of being able to manifest an infinite number of weapons and you can read all about him in Jason Aaron’s Thor: God of Thunder which started printing with Marvel Now in 2012.

“A lot of the design of Hela is a combination of the early Jack [Kirby] stuff but also the stuff that came out of [God of Thunder‘s Gorr] and especially his power set,” said executive producer Brad Winderbaum. “The villain Gorr has a very specific power set of being able to manifest an infinite number of weapons. We’ve drafted that idea. We are doing a version of that, not exactly, but a version of that for Hela in our movie.”

Grand And Masterful

Jeff Goldblum’s character, The Grandmaster, was described as, not only a ringleader of a circus, but also a brutal dictator. How brutal remains to be seen but you can get a better idea of the character from Planet Hulk and paying attention to the Red King.

At the time, Goldblum had not yet begun filming what would be about an eight-day role, but the crew was more than ready to have him. “He’s the ringleader of the circus on Sakaar,” Winderbaum said. “But he’s also a little bit of like a brutal dictator, although he’s completely unaware. To him it’s all good all the time.”

“I think he’s going to really be a fun and kind of elusive character,” Winderbaum concluded.

Game Changer

Thor: Ragnarok will serve as much more than a stepping stone in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Instead, this movie will likely be looked back upon as a major gamechanger and lead-in for Avengers: Infinity War.

“In Phase 1, we establish this cosmology that involved Asgard and Odin and certain ideas and things that you thought were eternal and could never change and what this film does is it breaks them down in a very similar way that [Captain America: The Winter Soldier broke down SHIELD,” Winderbaum said.

Chris Hemsworth promises Thor: Ragnarok is “its own film” but also serves a piece of the larger puzzle in many ways. “We didn’t wanna get bogged down in Infinity Stones,” Hemsworth said. “I spoke to the [Avengers: Infinity War directors Anthony & Joe Russo] before I even had the script for this and said, ‘How does this link into that? What can we look out for?’ And then, ‘How do we continue this tone because we want to do something different here,’ and so on.”

“Without giving anything away, [Thor: Ragnarok] definitely leads nicely into [Avengers: Infinity War], as they all tend to do but this being called Ragnarok, which everyone knows what that means, this is going to affect the larger universe.”

To Infinity, And Beyond

Hanging on a wall in the concept art room was a list of props for the film and listed on it was “Infinity Gauntlet”.

The Gauntlet was last seen in the post-credits scene of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Thanos had acquired it in an unknown location and declared, “Fine, I’ll do it myself,” just as Ultron failed to destroy Earth. In that moment, fans knew the villain was ready for battle.

Should the Infinity Gauntlet appear in Thor: Ragnarok, it would likely come with an appearance from Thanos assuming the timeline of films remains to be chronological based on releases with the exception of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. 

A version of the Infinity Gauntlet was featured in 2011’s Thor, which has been declared as simply a replica of the Gauntlet locked away in Odin’s vault while Thanos now has the other. This Gauntlet’s appearance in Thor: Ragnarok would make sense, given the “Destroyer Armor” also being listed on the same sheet and its residence just down the hall from this mock-Gauntlet.

Guardians?

Of all the concept art on display, what was most eye-catching for fans of crossovers and connections was Star-Lord’s ship the Milano.

“Yes, there is a reason for it to be there, yes,” Ernie Malik, the unit publicist for Thor: Ragnarok said when asked if there is a reason for the Milano being featured among the concept art pieces. Malik, however, wouldn’t comment beyond that. Winderbaum promised, though, the Guardians of the Galaxy movies influence the film both “stylistically and narratively.”

With Thor: Ragnarok serving as the final cosmic adventure before Thanos wreaks havoc on the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Avengers: Infinity War, it seems like a good place for the Avengers characters to have an initial interaction with the Guardians faces.

The Milano wasn’t the only Guardians connection made in the form of concept art on the set of Thor: Ragnarok. Also featured in some concept art was the Broker, a character introduced in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, whom Star-Lord aimed to sell his stolen orb containing an Infinity Stone to.