Now that ample time has passed since the first trailer for Thor: Ragnarok effortlessly blew up the internet as if it had been exploded by the hand of Hela, I certainly hope we’ve all been able to cool down enough in order to discuss other aspects of the film.
Although it had been alluded to for some time that gladiator-style battles between Thor and Hulk would take place, none of the promo art that teased the epic showdown was quite like seeing the first bits of footage. And knowing that the Planet Hulk comic book arc served as one of the film’s major influences, it’s only natural that some of the characters seen within its pages find their way to the silver screen.
In fact, director Taika Waititi recently confirmed two of them at Marvel’s Open House event, the first of which is Korg:
“His name is Korg, like the piano, and he’s a Kronan! I mean, I know you’ve seen (Thor) Dark World. At the beginning of Dark World, there’s a Kronan there. This is kind of a relation to that guy. He’s not as tall. He’s sort of about eight feet tall, and he’s um, made of rocks. He’s one of the creatures featured in the Planet Hulk storyline along with another character called Miek who is also in the film, so we’re borrowing those from their storyline and putting them in the arena, the Contest of Champions, that the Grandmaster, Jeff Goldblum runs on the planet Sakaar, which the Hulk is the main champion.”
As for the other, well, his appearance shouldn’t come as much of a surprise:
“This other character here is Miek. He’s from the comics as well. He’s sort of like an insectoid. He sort of has a cool exoskeleton with knife hands. He’s basically sort of a larva shaped thing. He controls the exoskeleton with these controls and stuff. He’s way more graceful than Korg. Much more efficient and Miek does not talk.”
From the sound of it, Waititi may have found a middle ground between how these characters appeared in the Planet Hulk comic and the animated film of the same name, while probably adding some of his own touches to make them fit in with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Speaking of the animated movie, it’s highly recommended that you check it out if you want a quick primer to familiarize yourself with this material because, quite frankly, the collected edition is rather thick and may be intimidating for casual fans.
Thor: Ragnarok opens in theaters on November 3.
