The Marvel Cinematic Universe have maintained a pretty consistent level of quality on the whole. Even the worst of their films — “The Incredible Hulk,” “Iron Man 2,” “Age Of Ultron,” “Thor: The Dark World,” “Ant-Man” — have elements to recommend them, and never sink as low as an “X-Men: Apocalypse” or “Suicide Squad.” But on the flipside, even the best of their films haven’t really reached genuine greatness in the way that, say, “Spider-Man 2” or “The Dark Knight” managed.
“The Avengers” and “Guardians Of The Galaxy” probably come closest, but the former has a wooly first act and an aesthetic blandness, the latter feels a little too eager to please in places. But there’s an exciting run of MCU movies that could start to change that: Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther” is coming up and looks stellar, and we’re all expecting big things from the “Infinity War” movies and “Captain Marvel.” But with less than two months until its release now, we might be more excited for “Thor: Ragnarok” than we’ve ever been for a Marvel movie.
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Few would mark the previous ‘Thor’ films as MCU high points, something the company seem to have acknowledged by throwing the kitchen sink at the third film — “Hunt For The Wilderpeople” and “What We Do In The Shadows” director Taika Waititi, one of the most exciting directors around right now, is at the helm, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk has a major role, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange will turn up, Cate Blanchett plays the villain, and Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban and Rachel House play new characters, joining the returning stellar ensemble of Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba and, of course, Chris Hemsworth. Oh, and it’s the shortest Marvel movie to date as well, which in an age of 150-minute blockbusters, is a blessed relief.
Footage so far of the movie suggests an enormously enjoyable, bright, poppy aesthetic that’s equal parts Jack Kirby and prog-rock album cover, and Waititi looks to have dialed up the humor (always the best element of the “Thor” movies anyway) in the way that we hoped he had. And both of those elements are found in this new trailer/TV spot that debuted during the NFL game last night, which features quite a lot of new footage, including Thor attempting, hilariously, to dub his new team “The Revengers.”
The movie starts to roll out barely six weeks from now (it opens in the UK on October 24th), before hitting the U.S. on November 3rd, and we can’t wait. Check the new trailer out below.
