Most would agree that the success of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014, began a big new era in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one where the films released by the studio could adopt different tones and genre leanings without losing the comic book heart at the center of them. As a result, Marvel's willingness to experiment more with their visuals and tones has been noticeable ever since, to varying degrees of success. But none of the Marvel franchise films feel like more of a departure from their predecessors than this year's Thor: Ragnarok.

As opposed to the Shakespearean, mythological style of the first two Thor films, Ragnarok promises to be more of an 80s action adventure, buddy road trip comedy about the end of the world. While that might appear to be a tough tonal balance for any filmmaker to tackle as well, it's no coincidence that Marvel hired What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople director,  Taika Waititi, at the helm, as Waititi possesses the experience and unique sensibilities that make him capable of capturing something like that.

It wasn't long after the first Thor: Ragnarok teaser trailer was released online, though, before fans began comparing the film to Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy movies. With its new cosmic setting and space opera-esque visuals, it wasn't necessarily hard to see why. But in a recent interview with Heroic Hollywood, Marvel's own Kevin Feige teased that Ragnarok is going to be less like Guardians than some fans may think going into it:

"Well, I think I would say it’s, and as people see more of Ragnarok, it’s a Taika tone more than a Guardians tone. He’s really adding a very unique point of view to it, but certainly the success of Guardians just boosted our confidence to continue to go in new, fun, weird directions."

Hela on Hel in Thor Ragnarok

Feige only appears to be providing further proof of how vital a role Waititi wound up playing in the overall development and creative direction of Thor: Ragnarok, which - not to sound like a broken record or anything - promises to be unlike anything else that Marvel Studios has released up until this point. Even if its cosmic space elements, color palette, and visual elements may bear some resemblance overall, to the look of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 and 2.

Plus, for what it's worth, Ragnarok also boasts one of the most impressive casts in Marvel history, featuring a whole list of exciting new additions to the cinematic universe, including Karl Urban's Skurge, Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie, Jeff Goldblum's Grandmaster, Cate Blanchett's villainous Hela, and more. The film's teaser trailer was met with worldwide praise from comic book fans and Marvel critics too, breaking viewership records at the time, with many calling it one of the best trailers the studio has ever released. So even if some fans still consider it to be too much like the Guardians films, it's safe to say that may not be a bad thing either.

Source: Heroic Hollywood

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