The most recent trailer for
Thor: Raganarok was chock full of comic-related goodies, one of which was the
Hulk finally talking in full sentences. In an interview with IGN, director Taika Waititi said the Jade Giant has actually not reverted back into Bruce Banner for approximately two years, leading to a slightly more cognizant Hulk and a larger and more visible struggle between the two personalities.
"We knew that we wanted Hulk to have been Hulk for about two years, so he was trapped on this planet," Waititi said.
"I'm always fascinated by the duality of Hulk and Banner and how their brains could be interconnected and could we see Hulk and have a bit of Banner's voice in there? Could we have Banner and kind of see Hulk's personality through there? And I think in this film, we're going to see that for the first time, where they're fighting - really fighting - for control of the body, and Hulk talking, this idea of a more cognitive Hulk who can say sentences, that is a...obviously it's in the comics, it was something that fans want to finally see. He didnt say a single word in [Age of] Ultron! But yeah it's what fans wanted to see and it's what I wanted to see too."
In addition to the major storyline involving Thor, the film also adapts quite a few elements of the famous
Planet Hulk storyline, which fans have clamored to be made into its own movie. Waititi admitted he was never focused on making the elements of that story fully accurate ot the comics, but wanted to include some interesting characters such as Korg (who he plays in the film).
"I was just trying to inject my tone and sensibility into it, and then those guys who actually know the comics came in and were like, 'Let's just push it in this direction back here,'" he explained.
"Korg and Miek, who are two characters from Planet Hulk, there's that stuff. One difference is we have the Grandmaster ruling Sakaar instead of the Red King, and so there's those things, but I don't really play that much attention to it. I'm trying to create cool characters and tone and story instead of 'it has to be totally authentic to the comic', because I think that's when you run into trouble when you can't be creatively free to adjust things."
Of course, the film is named after Thor, and Waititi has previously gone on record saying he wanted the God of Thunder to be the most compelling character of the film. To achieve that goal, Waititi wanted to challenge him to be more than just his power source.
"I think we really wanted to challenge Thor in this film. He's challenged more than in any of the other films," said Waititi.
"He loses the hammer, which is the source of his power, and he's really on the back foot most of the film. We didn't want him to be able to utilize magic, or to have Loki's magic. We didn't want him to have too many advantages. He had to really find his way out of this predicament using his brain and using his friends."
Thor: Ragnarok storms into theatres on
November 3, 2017.
In Marvel Studios' "Thor: Ragnarok," Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok - the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization - at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger - the Incredible Hulk!
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