When you're a thunder god, we suppose you can demand that your flowing locks be shorn off if you're sick of the wig. Which might explain Thor (Chris Hemsworth)'s new look in Thor: Ragnarok, and you can see him, plus Cate Blanchett's Hela and Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie in the first proper look at the movie via EW's new cover...
Thor: Ragnarok, directed by Hunt For The Wilderpeople's Taika Waititi, finds our hero in even more galactic trouble than usual. Blanchett's Hela, the Goddess Of Death, is accidentally released from prison and intends to cause more chaos than even Begbie from Trainspotting's sequel. Or, say, Tom Hiddleston's Loki, who is still up to his own tricks. She sends Thor to a desolate planet called Sakaar, where he'll face fresh challenges. "It's basically where every wormhole across the universe dumps out its trash, so you get people from all walks of life with all sorts of incredible abilities and powers,” Hemsworth tells EW. "No one cares what prince or king Thor may have been in another world. Also, his strength is pretty easily matched with those he finds himself amongst." And the creatures he'll have to battle in this new world's gladiatorial arena include a familiar face. Turns out Mark Ruffalo's Hulk has ended up here and is Sakaar's most successful – and popular – fighter.
It's all in service of trying something different with a Thor story (a Thtory?), and one that Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige embraced: “I have a belief that if you’re lucky enough to get to part 3 of a franchise, it is your obligation not to fall to threequel-itis."
It'll also be funnier thanks to Waititi's own sensibility, but don't go expecting Thor to embrace the skux life. "I think sometimes people mistake a tonal shift as, 'We’re just going to make some ridiculous broad comedy where no one gives a s**** what happens and everyone gets stoned and sits around talking about saving the universe,'" Waititi explains. "We want people to care what happens and care that the hero succeeds. I think tonally it’s like a slight shift. I don’t feel nervous – I feel good about it." For more on the movie, head to EW. New images of Hiddleston as Loki and Jeff Goldblum as the Grandmaster are below.
Thor: Ragnarok will be out in the UK on 27 October, before hitting the US on 3 November.