Director Taika Waititi says Thor in Thor: Ragnarok feels closer to Chris Hemsworth in his personality than fans have seen before. Thor: Ragnarok generated much excitement over the weekend when Waititi, Hemsworth and his fellow cast mates appeared at San Diego Comic-Con and debuted the second trailer for Ragnarok. Matching the colorful if not offbeat tone of the first trailer for Thor: Ragnarok in April, the new trailer even yielded some surprises, including a big reveal where Hulk speaks, albeit like a 2-year-old, to the eponymous character.

The trailer, like the first teaser, also included more wit from Hemsworth (following his already classic line, "I know him ... he's a friend from work!"), where he playfully claims to Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) that he defeated Hulk in their head-to-head match in The Grandmaster's (Jeff Goldblum) battle arena on Sakaar. And while Hemsworth has certainly had funny lines in both the first two Thor films and Avengers films, apparently the charm he's going to display in Thor: Ragnarok is even closer to the actor's personality in real life.

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In an interview with Variety at SDCC, Waititi explained the Thor and Hemsworth parallels:

"We're actually making Thor closer to Chris and his personality and who he is ... he's funny – a lot funnier and a lot more colloquial because he's spent time on Earth ... Personally, I think he's the best version of Thor, just quietly. Not to take away from the any of the other films, but in order for me to feel comfortable making this film, I wanted to move away from the other films and make something that was kind of a standalone Thor film. That your really didn't need to see the first two to understand the (third) film."

While Hemsworth's portrayal of Thor has hardly become stale in his solo and Avengers films, it's fun to see how Waititi is willing to raise the stakes and present fans with what is promising to be a lighter take on the God of Thunder.

After all, it's pretty apparent in his film portrayals, if not his bubbly demeanor in public, that Hemsworth is quite an affable individual, so Waititi simply seems to be taking advantage of the actor's strengths to see his unique vision through. Clearly Waititi sees something in Hemsworth that matches his quirky filmmaking sensibilities (he previously directed the offbeat indie films What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople), which helps to explain why the helmsman pushed his creative boundaries and had the actor and his cast mates improvise 80 percent of Thor: Ragnarok.

As it turns out, Waititi's colorful and comedic approach may give fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe their last chance to laugh for a while, since Avengers: Infinity War co-directors Joe and Anthony are teasing some "intense surprises" for the next Avengers chapter in the May 2018 - including some possible deaths of major characters.

NEXT: Thor: Ragnarok Trailer #2 Breakdown & Reveals

Source:  Variety