Thor: Ragnarok made it into our anticipated films of 2017 list for a lot of good reasons.
For one, it's directed by Taika Waititi of Hunt For The Wilderpeople and What We Do In The Shadows fame. Not only that, it's got one of the most impressive casts out there - Jeff Goldblum, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Karl Urban and the return of Anthony Hopkins as Odin, not to mention Mark Ruffalo making a big impact as Bruce Banner / The Hulk.
The big question that's been hanging over Thor: Ragnarok is what exactly the film is about and, more precisely, how The Hulk features so largely in the story. Comic-book fans will recognise a few elements from the Planet Hulk storyline in the official synopsis, but there's also a few other elements thrown into the mix as well.
The synopsis tells it that "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!"
Like we said, the gladiatorial matches in space is straight out of Planet Hulk - but the whole Ragnarok / Hela thing is a melding of other storylines. Cate Blanchett as Hela and Karl Urban as Skurge is going to be an interesting pairing, to say the least, and Taika Waititi's sharp eye for comedy is undoubtedly going to play a large role in the film.
Check out some of the artwork and behind-the-scenes photos below. Thor: Ragnarok is scheduled for Irish release on October 27th.