Thor: Ragnarok had a pretty epic ending with a nice set-up for Thor and the Revengers going
into Avengers: Infinity War.
But recently the filmmakers revealed some interesting alternate endings, some of which
were filmed and others just considered, for the third Thor movie.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers, it's Jan here and today I'm talking endings we never got
to see, crucial plot changes, plus another stack of deleted scenes, rejected concepts,
and end credit scenes that I've found out about since my first video on Thor: Ragnarok's
deleted scenes.
Don't forget I've still got some cool Marvel merch to give away, so make sure you're a
subscriber and comment for your chance to win.
And obviously, I'm discussing spoilers, so take care if you haven't seen the movie yet.
In an alternate post-credits scene to the one we saw in the film, the Grandmaster and
his right-hand-woman Topaz were going to stow away on the ship with the Asgardians at the
end of the movie.
To conceal their identity, the dictatorial duo would have put blankets over their heads,
which really reminds me of the scene where Thor does the same during the Hulk Parade,
and also of the moment that Skurge disguised himself with a hooded cape and tried to stow
away on the ship leaving Asgard, that is, until he had an attack of conscience.
This version of the end-credits would have left the Grandmaster in a very different situation
to the final film.
Instead of still being on Sakaar facing his rebellious subjects, this alternate scene
would have meant that, just like the Asgardians he's travelling with, the Grandmaster's journey
to Earth would have been interrupted by the arrival of Thanos's craft, the Sanctuary 2.
It would have been interesting to see these two characters cross paths, as their comic-book
counterparts have done, for example, when the Grandmaster lost his Mind Gem to Thanos.
By the way, the Grandmaster's alternate post-credits scene was actually filmed, so hopefully we'll
get to see it on the DVD release.
Although the final movie sees Asgard destroyed, in an interview with Empire, Taika Waititi
revealed that the last act of the movie could have been completely different to what we
saw on screen.
Indeed, during early script development, Asgard wasn't going to be torn apart and burned to
bits; instead, it was actually going to be saved from destruction, something I think
many comic book fans wouldn't have been especially happy to see on screen, given that Ragnarok
is supposed to be a cycle of death and rebirth.
In the same interview, Waititi also revealed that Valhalla was originally going to be a
significant part of the film, 'with a part of the journey actually [going] to Valhalla,
[and …] a big showdown there.'
And I wonder if that version of the script would have involved Hela trying to extend
her domain from Hel to Valhalla, as she does in the comics.
Hela's reveal as Odin's first-born child was one of the few secrets that was pretty well-kept
until close to the movie's release.
However, in early versions of the script, the reveal of Hela as Thor's sister actually
happened later in the story.
And in the original draft, it was Valkyrie who told Thor that Hela was his sister when
they were together in Hulk's suite on Sakaar.
In the final script though, Odin's dark secret that Hela was the true heir to the throne
of Asgard was moved earlier in order to avoid a possible comparison with Star Wars: The
Empire Strikes Back and the reveal of Luke Skywalker's father at the end of that movie.
And the person revealing that information was changed to Odin as they felt it made better
use of Anthony Hopkins' limited screentime.
Director Taika Waititi also felt that Hela being a secret family member wasn't quite
as important as the dark truth it revealed about how Odin had constructed a false history
about himself and Asgard.
Which is another reason Waititi wanted to get the sister reveal out of the way earlier
in the movie.
Hela's look and costume also underwent several revisions and there were some fascinating
early versions.
As well this much darker version of Hela and her costume, her headdress was also going
to be weaponised.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, VFX supervisor Jake Morrison mentioned that an early design
of Hela's headgear included antlers that could "turn into face-mask shields […] almost
like samurai-style outfits".
I'm guessing these might have been scrapped because when producers have got expensive,
famous actors for a big movie, they don't necessarily want them to spend a lot of screentime
with their faces covered up.
While we didn't get those extra features on Hela's costume, we still saw her in some pretty
fantastic action scenes that show off her incredible power.
For example, the amazing scene where Hela takes out the entire elite Asgardian army
single-handedly is an extraordinary demonstration of her capabilities.
But there were actually multiple versions of this scene.
Originally, it was meant to be even longer but was cut back to avoid repetition and extending
production days.
On top of that, Jake Morrison explained that it was actually filmed as a single continuous
action shot in which "a revolving camera" tracked Hela "as she [ploughed] through and
killed everybody."
I think a single-camera unbroken take of that scene could have been amazing to watch.
However, I can imagine it would have been really difficult to get just right and even
tiny errors in the stunt choreography or timing could have spoiled it.
Morrison has said that the scene was later re-edited to make it more "percussive", which
sounds like it perhaps wasn't quite up-to-scratch to work as a single shot.
And we almost got a scene between Hela and the Destroyer, the Asgardian automaton from
the first Thor movie.
In the original draft, when Hela is looking for Heimdall's sword so she can operate the
Bifrost Bridge, she goes to look inside the weapons vault.
As she enters the room, the Destroyer is activated and tries to stop her, but Hela just rips
it apart.
The scene was cut as it was mostly intended to be a call-back to the first movie and,
in the end, felt unnecessary.
By the way, if you're a Hela fan who's hoping she somehow survived at the end of the film,
check out my new Avengers: Infinity War theory video about why I think there's a big chance
we'll see Hela back in that movie.
Speaking to Yahoo, screenwriter Eric Pearson revealed that when he came on to the project,
the original writers had already included a romantic relationship between Valkyrie and
Thor in the script.
Personally, I'm happy that Pearson decided to scrap that part of the plot, and instead
ensured that Valkyrie had 'her own story', rather than just some romantic subplot.
And I think it's much more interesting that Valkyrie's story 'became more about the mutual
respect [between her and Thor], and also dealing with her PTSD.'
Now, I already explained a lot of deleted scenes in my previous video, but since then,
there's some new details come out about other deleted scenes which I want to discuss.
One especially great deleted scene that I know many fans would have loved to see was
a call-back to The Avengers.
In a scene after the Revengers land on the Rainbow Bridge, there would have been a moment
where they stand there for a second and then Hulk punches Loki right out of the frame,
just like he did to Thor during the Battle of New York in The Avengers.
This would have been pretty funny to see in the movie as Loki suspected he was in trouble
when he first saw Hulk in the Grandmaster's arena.
And this deleted scene would have been even funnier because during the arena scene, Loki
himself cried out 'Yes, that's how it feels', when Hulk smashed Thor around, like he'd done
to Loki in The Avengers.
Sadly, Waititi has said the scene with Loki getting punched out of frame was cut for time,
though it might appear on the DVD.
But I wonder whether it was part of other missing scenes on the Rainbow Bridge that
we never got to see, like the Revengers lining up to face off against Hela, plus various
Hela fight moves.
There was another funny scene in the trailers of Banner and Thor talking about muscles and
brains that sadly didn't make it in.
"Biggest muscle in the body."
"I've got lots of muscles so technically more brains!"
This moment would have been especially sweet since it was a call-back to Thor's mockumentary
video with Darryl where he makes a similar joke.
"Ooh, this is knowledge.
Knowledge is power.
No it's not.
Knowledge is not power.
That's power.
The brain is a muscle.
And that's a muscle.
And they are all muscles.
This is all muscle, so I am covered in brains, and I've more brains than you."
Banner and Thor were also together in yet another humorous but slightly gross "noodle
worm" scene that ended up cut.
According to screenwriter Eric Pearson's interview with Yahoo, there "was an emotional check-in
moment with Bruce Banner and Thor before the finale, with Banner eating alien food and
trying to be serious.
It [looks like] spaghetti, but then he realizes the thing he's eating is alive [on the end]."
Despite multiple rewrites of what Pearson called a "pivotal character moment", the scene
ended up being canned as it "crushed the momentum" of the movie.
Now, there was already a deleted snippet from Valkyrie's flashback scene that we saw teased
in the trailers of Hela turning nonchalantly to the camera.
But there was another moment missing from the flashback that looks like it could have
explained exactly how Valkyrie survived the massacre of the Valkyrior at the hands of
Hela.
VFX studio Rising Sun Pictures, who worked on the flashback scene, revealed that the
reason Valkyrie survived is that she fell into a portal and escaped.
You do see Valkyrie falling back at the very end of the flashback but there's no obvious
portal behind her, which makes me think the scene was cut a little short.
And I wonder whether it was going through that portal that meant she ended up on Sakaar.
Something which I've been asked about is why Thor has both eyes in the trailer when in
the movie he loses one to Hela.
Plus, if you've seen the Infinity War footage from D23 and Comic Con, you'll know that Thor
had both his eyes intact there too.
The simple answer is that Marvel wanted to avoid spoiling the fact Thor loses his eye,
a plot point that comes near the end of the film, so they made sure he appeared with both
eyes in the marketing materials for Ragnarok and Infinity War.
Thor losing his eye was always in the original story and Waititi has talked about it being
part of stripping down Thor's character, starting with the loss of his father, then his hammer,
his eye, and finally his homeland Asgard.
The eye patch that Thor puts on at the end is a symbolic reference to his father Odin
as well as a nod to the comics; and Chris Hemsworth has confirmed that this is the look
we'll see for Thor in Avengers: Infinity War.
So, did you like the way that Thor: Ragnarok ended?
And would you like to have seen any of the deleted scenes included in the movie?
Be sure to leave me a comment below with your thoughts and also subscribe for a chance to
win a Marvel Funko Pop or an Obsessed With Marvel book by Titan Books.
If you haven't already seen my first video, tap the screen here to check out more Thor:
Ragnarok deleted scenes or why not watch my Hela & Thanos Avengers: Infinity War theory.
Thanks for watching and see ya next time.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers.