Marvel Studios has released the first trailer for Thor: Ragnarok online, teasing the God of Thunder's battle with not the villainous Hela (Cate Blanchett), but also his cosmic gladiator arena throw-down with fellow Avenger Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) in the film. The first trailer for Ragnarok was previously expected to be released with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in theaters in a few weeks, but Marvel has decided to get a head start on marketing the movie ahead of then.
Ragnarok was directed by Taika Waititi, the acclaimed New Zealand filmmaker behind such quirky indie films as What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Waititi's Thor movie boasts its fair share of offbeat characters and comedy similar to that featured in the director's previous work, based on the previously-released images from the film. This trailer for Ragnarok further supports that idea, teasing a fun (and funny) adventure with Chris Hemsworth's God of Thunder, even in the face of Hela's apocalyptic assault on the Nine Realms.
The Ragnarok teaser trailer quickly establishes the high stakes for the movie, showing Hela not only attacking Asgard, but imprisoning Thor and even destroying his all-mighty hammer Mjolnir; something that explains why Thor is without his hammer, in the movie. At the same time, the trailer adapts a distinctly playful vibe; setting its footage to the bouncy retro rock tune of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" and concluding with Thor gleefully announcing that "We know each other, he's a friend from work!" upon seeing an armored Hulk enter The Grandmaster's (Jeff Goldblum) battle arena on Sakaar.
Hela and The Grandmaster are far from the only new additions to the Thor movie franchise who show up during the Ragnarok teaser trailer. Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie makes a significant appearance here too, in turn setting up the character and her role in the film. In addition, the trailer gives us our first official look at Karl Urban as Skurge (shaven head and all), as well as Tom Hiddleston's Loki - who is back with a shiny new gold helmet - and Asgard gatekeeper Heimdall (Idris Elba), who has long hair for the first time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe here.
Building on Thor's Scarlet Witch-fueled vision of Asgard being in danger from Avengers: Age of Ultron (and living up to the promise of the movie's subtitle), the Ragnarok teaser trailer also reveals Hela unleashing destruction upon Thor's home. The trailer doesn't provide any insight into Hela's motivation for doing that and instead serves as more of a tone-setter, as well as a roll call for the main players in the film. All in all though, when it comes to getting audiences excited to see an MCU movie in the vein of Big Trouble in Little China (the comparison made by Waititi himself), this Ragnarok teaser trailer is a strong start.
NEXT: Everything We Know About Thor: Ragnarok (So Far)
Source: Marvel Studios
