I recently attended the Thor Ragnarok Press Conference in Beverly Hills. Here are a few things I learned from the upcoming Marvel movie- Thor Ragnarok.
5 Things I Learned From The Thor Ragnarok Press Conference
Thor Ragnarok comes out this week, November 3rd! Are you super excited? I am! And since I know alllll the things that happened in the movie, I promise not to share any spoilers. Just as I was able to experience a lot of things first hand, I want the same for you, my friend!
While we were at the Thor Ragnarok premiere, we attended a press junket with the cast, director, and producer of Thor Ragnarok. I, along with my “friends from work” was able to get exclusive interviews with two of the actors, director, and producer (Karl Urban, Rachel House, Kevin Feige, and Taika Waititi).
You can read my spoiler-free Thor Ragnarok movie review as well.
I checked off another first during this whirl of a week; attending my first press junket was a fun experience. Seeing journalists and other media outlets all buzzing around, hoping to get their questions answered, a quick photo with the handsome “god of thunder” or the fierce Valkyrie before they were whisked away by their army of people was as exhilarating as people-watching at the airport.
Photo Credit – Drew Bennett / BenSpark Family Adventures – https://www.benspark.com/
Thor Ragnarok Press Junket Cast Attendees:
Producer and President of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige
Director Taika Waititi
Chris Hemsworth (“Thor”)
Mark Ruffalo (“Bruce Banner / Hulk”)
Tom Hiddleston (“Loki”)
Cate Blanchett (“Hela”)
Tessa Thompson (“Valkyrie”)
Jeff Goldblum (“Grandmaster”)
Karl Urban (“Skurge”)
Rachel House (“Topaz”)
Host: Kevin Frazier
Location of Thor Ragnarok Press Junket: Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills
During the press junket, many questions were asked. I am not going to share them all since quite a few are spoilers. {be sure to come back after a few weeks to check for updates. I will add a few great questions that you may want to know after seeing Thor Ragnarok.}
Photo Credit: Dwan/ MommaDJane.com
Why This Thor Is Different
The first question from the host, Kevin Frazier, was directed to Chris Hemsworth- Chris, what makes this Thor different from the others?
CHRIS HEMSWORTH: Taika Waititi, basically. I think we all had a, a vision, and an idea, and a want to do something vastly different than what we’d done before, and take it to a different place. And that meant kind of doing away with what we knew, and just reinventing it, and it all came from his crazy, wonderful brain, and his inspiration, and him pushing us every day on set, and constantly encouraging us to improvise, and explore, and take risks. And it was one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve ever had on a set, and a film that I feel the most proud of, just because of this-this whole team, and the collaboration, and fun we had.
I want to point out the chemistry between the actors. They laughed and poked fun at each other during the press conference. After Chris gave his answer, which is spot-on why this Thor is different (I talked about in my interview with Taika), Cate, Mark, Tom, and others chimed in, “we love you, Chris,” with Taika adding, “I love you more now, you see!”
Photo Credit – Britni Newton Vigil /PlayPartyPlan.com
How New Comer Tessa Thompson Handled The Role As Valkryie
Another question from the press was asked to Tessa Thompson: How did it feel playing a character that in the comics is mechanical white and bringing this character to life in the movie?
TESSA THOMPSON: No, I didn’t feel any pressure with that specifically. You know, the things that I thought about the particulars of Valkyrie had more to do with, like mass and size. For example, I thought, like ‘Oh, I’m – I’m short,’ you know. Or like, ‘I’m not buff enough.’ Or how – you know, she’s arguably as strong as Thor. How do I stand, you know, next to a person like Chris Hemsworth and feel, and feel like that’s true, you know. So I didn’t think so much – I mean, satisfying Norse mythology, it’s mystifying, and fantastical, and glorious, and also very confusing and doesn’t make a lot of sense, you know.
She went on to talk about reading something online about people commenting on her playing Valkryie as “white genocide.” She had this to say in response to comments swirling about her playing Valkyrie, ” I just figured like, you know, this thing that I’m tasked to do with any character that has its own iconography is to capture the spirit of the character, and I think the spirit of all of us, at the risk of sounding, you know, cheesy, has very little to do with what color we are. So I didn’t really invest in that.”
Well said, Tessa. And she SLAYED as Valkryie! {be sure to check out our Valkryie cocktail!}
Photo Credit – Britni Newton Vigil /PlayPartyPlan.com
Jeff Goldblum Steps Into Thor With A Bang!
Jeff Goldblum’s character in Thor Ragnarok is hilariously funny. His quirky and cool personality fits right in as the Grandmaster of Sakaar. It’s almost like he’s been here all along. Here’s how he describes his entrance into MCU.
JEFF GOLDBLUM: Hello – hello. Fantastic. Fantastic. (the way he said fantastic had myself and the audience laughing) I like the character, of course, and the opportunities in the character. Joining a group like this, a cast like this is a dream come true. Taika – working with Taika, that was my first, you know, connection point to the movie. We had a meeting, and hit it off, and he said what we were gonna do, and improvise, and have fun. But then, you know, Kevin Feige and Louis D’Espesito, and Victoria Alonso, and Brad Winderbaum – the whole upper tier of creative leaders, do something unique. They know how to make these epic productions, and popular movies, but they want to make good movies. And they somehow uniquely know how to do them, that feels to me like an actorly, workshop-y, character-y, improvisatory, delightful experience – and make a movie that I think skins the cat like this is just – I’m grateful, overwhelmingly grateful.
Photo Credit – Britni Newton Vigil /PlayPartyPlan.com
Cate Blanchett’s Take On Being Hela
Another newcomer to Marvel was the lovely Cate Blanchett. Before the screening, I wasn’t sure how well she could play a villain. I mean, ‘Hela’ is something else. However, during the film I found myself rooting for her over ‘Thor’ (sorry Chris).
A member of the press asked Cate, “I know you’ve had a background in theater. And there’s always been a lot of Shakespeare running through the Thor movies, with scheming families and things along those lines. And so my question is – have you ever played Gonerall, and if you haven’t, do you think Hela would qualify as that style of character?”
CATE BLANCHETT: Well, yes, that’s quite a good comparison. I didn’t think about Shakespeare very much on this one. No, but it was great to, I think – just on a prosaic level, that the language had shifted, you know, enormously in this. It was just, just texturally, it was a huge departure, and as Jeff was referring to, how much improvisation there was, and I’m really upset that the line ‘Dumbos’ didn’t end up. Taika would just keep throwing lines. And there was one day when, when we’re on set, and I had, “I’m the Goddess of the Death, and what are you the God of, again?” And Chris had said, “I’m the God of…” and Taika said, “Dumbos.”
Photo Credit: Dwan/ MommaDJane.com
This got the whole audience laughing, and playful banter ensued between Cate and Chris. Cate went on to say, “Yeah, so the language was quite different. But I – but personally, I mean, I went back to two things, primarily. I went back to the extraordinary images that are there in the original comics, and then I went to the fan base ‘cause there are all these Hela fangirls who are doing these extraordinary make-ups online. And so when we were thinking about what she’d look like visually, I went to that. So I started with the visual, rather than the textural, I think.”
Photo Credit – Britni Newton Vigil /PlayPartyPlan.com
Be On The Lookout For Easter Eggs in Thor Ragnarok
Of course, a question was asked about Easter Eggs.
Is there any Easter eggs that we can look forward to in the trash piles that we see, both when Thor, and then when Jeff Goldblum’s character lands at the end of the movie, as well?
KEVIN FEIGE: There might be some things in the trash piles. I mean, the biggest – the biggest Easter eggs are on the side of the Sakaran Palace – right, Taika? There are – there are previous Grandmaster champions that we see, as one for Hulk is being constructed, and those are all sort of Easter eggs for the deeper comic universe – that may or may not ever show up in the cinematic universe, but we thought it’d be fun to celebrate.
TAIKA WAITITI: Yeah. And in the trash pile, there is one Easter egg, an actual egg.
After the press junket wrapped up, myself along with many of the media outlets were fortunate enough to grab a few photos with some of the actors before they were whisked away. I remember whipping out my phone (but forget to clean off my lens) pretty quickly and was able to get a few selfies with some of the cast of Thor Ragnarok.
Thor Ragnarok is in theaters THIS weekend, starting November 3rd. Also, stay tuned for more Thor Ragnarok news, including interviews with Karl Urban and Rachel House. I learned quite a bit about the characters, and the actors themselves in this press conference but couldn’t cover it all. Use the #ThorRagnarokEvent on Twitter and Facebook to find different angles and questions covered by my blogger friends!
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Thank you, Disney, for hosting me on this all-expense paid press trip to the #ThorRagnarokEvent and other Disney press events. However, you will always be reading 100% of my own thoughts, squeals, and opinions!
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