Sometimes a movie films in utter secrecy. And sometimes it films on the public streets of Brisbane, Australia. Can you guess which one of those options Thor: Ragnarok chose?
Whether you knew the latest Thor movie is currently in production because Marvel co-president Louis D”Eposito announced it on Twitter or because you follow the latest Taylor Swift gossip, the point is Asgardians are down under in the land of Hemsworths. Since then, director Taika Waititi has been filming scenes outside. In broad daylight. Which meant it was only a matter of time before photos made their way online.
WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THOR: RAGNAROK BEYOND THIS POINT.
It began innocently enough. Marvel themselves teased the return of Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) as dysfunctional brothers.
I love everything about this photo. The put-upon looks of dealing with a sibling you love but don”t like. Thor and Loki having different taste in Midgardian clothing. The potential clues to the plot hiding in the newspaper headlines. It sets the tone of Ragnarok. Even if the film ISN”T a buddy-comedy starring powerless Asgardian brothers on a secret mission, fans of the back-and-forth between the god of thunder and the god of mischief in Thor: The Dark World look to be well-serviced here.
But then came the other photos. A quick search of #ThorRagnarok on Instagram returns dozens of photos from the streets of Brisbane. But none more shocking than the one caught by photographer Glenn Hunt of the World”s Worst Dad.
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It”s Odin himself, Sir Anthony Hopkins! Why is this such a big deal? Well, besides the fact that Hopkins actually looks like he wants to be there (a far cry from his phoned-in performance in The Dark World), it was implied at the end of the last film that Loki had finally succeeded in killing his father. So what is going on here?
A few options: Odin merely went into Odin Sleep to escape the pain of the death of his wife and Loki seized the opportunity to rule; Odin is dead and Loki is pretending to be him; Odin is an illusion set up by Loki for reasons unknown; Odin is harder to kill than his son thought, what with being the Allfather and all. And those are just off the top of my head.
The real question though is “Why did Thor: Ragnarok film such a huge reveal in broad daylight on the streets of Brisbane?” This is the same company that kept Spider-Man a secret for months. Why have Odin walking around bold-as-brass on an unsecured set? Did they want fans to see him?
EXPLAIN YOURSELF, MARVEL.