Spoilers for Thor: Ragnarok.
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Thor: Ragnarok was, for the most part, very faithful to its incredible, Led Zepplin-scored trailers - Taika Waititi's film is both the knockabout bromance comedy and the Norse epic they sold - although some scenes and shots didn't make the cut. Are these signs of a delayed edit or evidence of the film's seemingly substantial reshoots?
Differences between trailers and the finished film are inevitable for massive productions where the film is only in early post-production as the marketing ramps up. The director doesn't know what's going to be in the final cut, let alone the trailer editors, and marketing often picks what looks cool over what looks accurate besides. The most famous recent example is Rogue One, whose first teaser contains only half-a-dozen shots that made it into the final film due to extensive reshoots, but it's been very common in Marvel movies for a long while now too. And, while it's no Rogue One, Ragnarok definitely has some glaring omissions. A good chunk of adjusted dialogue is likely a result of Taika Waititi's love of improv, but anything bigger raises the question of the big "R".
Read More: Around 80% of Thor: Ragnarok Was Improvised
Before getting into details and discussing potential changes to the story, it's worth recapping Thor's production. The movie filmed in Australia from July to October 2016. Its first teaser released in April 2017, then three weeks of reshoots took place in July 2017, just before the official trailer debuted at SDCC. This means everything shown up until that point was from the original shoot, with reshot elements coming in later. Now, reshoots are of course part of the usual filmmaking process, doubly true of tentpoles, but all of this evidences at least one big change to Ragnarok - and perhaps more.
The Location Change of Mjolnir's Destruction
In the teaser and subsequent trailers, the inciting incident of Mjolnir's destruction took place in a New York City alley. This fit with the conventional understanding of the film's opening - Thor and Loki go to Manhattan to find the banished Odin, running into Doctor Strange before Hela is unleashed. Around early October, this was flipped and in the finished film the pivotal moment took place atop a cliff in Norway; this is where Odin has been hiding out, so Strange portals his sons there to witness his death before their sister appears.
Considering how prominent the alley sequence was in the marketing, this really stood out, doubly so because several associated elements showcased the scene - set photos had Hobo Odin in New York and further trailer shots showed Hela bathing herself with an orange glow. This leaves us to conclude that the entire sequence (including a different farewell to Stephen Strange), as well as the flashes back to Odin in Thor's visions throughout the film, were a key part of the reshoots. The only element that remains is the re-green screened shots of Thor throwing and Hela grabbing the hammer.
Waititi has actually addressed this change, saying that it was a result of pacing and tone - the scene felt too quick happening just down the road from the Sanctum Sanctorum and didn't provide a quite fitting enough death for Odin - which makes total sense, although doesn't explain the full picture. This is more than a location change or a sincering up of Hopkins' character; Hela no longer gains her form from an orange glow. We're not saying the original plan was actually for the All-Father to have the Soul Stone and his death see her taking control, but Hela seems to have taken a more direct power advantage from Odin in earlier drafts.
All-in-all, while Waititi makes a fair case, this one's a shame. The alley may be convenient, but it's more interesting than a field and plays into the film's more Highlander-esque vibes. But while that's the most pronounced alteration, we have deeper to go.
Thor's Eye
The other pronounced change to Ragnarok from its trailers is Thor's eye. The money shot of most promotional material since SDCC has been a lightning-sparking Thor flying down onto the rainbow bridge ready to do battle against Hela, both his eyes blue. This shot is in the movie, but with one notable difference: by this point he's lost an eye. During the start of their final confrontation, Hela violently (but bloodlessly) slices out Thor's right eye, essentially establishing his ascension to the throne as the new Loki in the film's final moments.
Because the trailer shot was so prominent, many will likely be wondering whether this was always set to happen or is just a knock-on effect of trying to make Odin's death more emotional. However, we can reveal it was always the plan. When Screen Rant visited the set of Ragnarok last year, Marvel revealed concept art for the change; becoming Odin was clearly always the end game, and this visual cue was a key part of it.
Related: How Thor: Ragnarok Sets Up Avengers: Infinity War
And you can see this just under the surface of the marketing. Thor always had marks around the eye in the trailers; practical elements of the clearly CGI wound. The Infinity War side of things show it even more; in the SDCC teaser he had both eyes, but it's not extreme enough to rule out alternate takes or editing to keep the secrets. The poster is more revealing. with Thor is in profile so his eye is just, oh-so-carefully hidden to avoid it being commented on.
The Other Missing Finale Footage
While we can feel safe in the lost eye always being part of the plan, there are still signs of some adjustments to the final action scenes. The teaser trailer featured the now-iconic shot of Loki walking in slow-motion along an Asgardian bridge flipping two knives. By the headdress and background, this is clearly during the final assault on Asgard, but at no point does Loki wind up in this sort of area (it looks to be from the evacuation of the populace). There's also the later trailer's shot of Thor, Loki, Hulk and Valkyrie standing to oppose Hela on the Bifrost. A neat summation of the final act it may be, but no such simple showdown happens; Loki arrives after the battle's started, then Hulk's distracted by Fenrir, then the realm's being brought down by Surtur.
This is slight but compelling evidence that some structural changes were made to the ending, or at least a four-on-one standoff was trimmed in favor of each character's individual arc resolution. There's not exactly any damage to the final act from this, nor does it really alter what happens, but it's a conspicuous change all the same.
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It's abundantly clear that Taika Waititi's vision for Thor: Ragnarok has remained consistent throughout production, with little complaint from Marvel. These trailer changes, while remarkable, don't really offer much to alter that view - the New York-Norway switch is intended to make the film more emotional, but otherwise the shifts play into his vision for this film and the characters going forward.
