The director of Thor: Ragnarok will be seen in front of the camera in his upcoming film. Takia Waititi has revealed that he will be playing Korg, a gladiator who becomes on ally of Thor’s as he finds himself trapped on Sakaar and is made a pawn in the Grandmaster’s games.
Korg is a member of the Kronan race, beings made entirely out of rock. Kronans were very briefly seen in Thor: The Dark World when Thor quickly dispatched one in the film’s opening minutes. Korg is a character that is making his way over onto film from the Planet Hulk storyline, of which is a huge influence on Thor: Ragnarok.
“Obviously, being made of rocks, we wanted somebody like The Rock to play him, but there wasn’t enough chicken or salmon in Australia to sustain he and Chris,” Waititi said. “I never thought I’d be playing the most loveable character in the film. We wanted to change the idea of what a hulking guy made of rocks could be. He’s huge and heavy, but with a light soul. We wanted to make him funny and a relatable entry point into this world. And Thor needs friends.”
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Waititi also joked that we could see Korg in Avengers: Infinity War if he gets his way with the Russo Brothers. “I’ll lobby for anything. My ego’s that big.”
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 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.
Thor: Ragnarok is being directed by Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows) and features Marvel veterans Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Idris Elba as Heimdall and Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk alongside Cate Blanchett as Hela, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Jeff Goldblum as the Grandmaster, Karl Urban as Skurge and Sam Neill in an as-yet-unrevealed role. It is set for release on October 27th in the UK and November 3rd in the States.
Originally published April 19, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
