As one of the more fun members of the film’s ensemble, it’s fair to say that the Kronan Korg made an impression in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’. But do you remember Korg’s prior appearance in the MCU? If not, we can hardly blame you. After all, it was in ‘Thor: The Dark World’, which may actually be the least memorable entry in the Marvel canon.
No, I haven’t lost my mind. Allow me to explain. Early in ‘The Dark World’, Thor makes fairly short work of rather large rock monster. While this creature is unnamed in the film, he is identified as Korg by director Alan Taylor in the audio commentary:
“You know, the comics of Thor obviously take place on many different worlds, all of the nine worlds. And one of the things we talked about when we started developing this film was wanting to see more of them. And Vanaheim, of course, is what this world is and seeing the rock monster, Korg, who fans may know. But this character’s also known as a Stone Man from Saturn. The Stone Men from Saturn, of course, was the very first bad guys that Thor fought in his very first issue. They didn’t quite look exactly like that, but that was our nod to his very first appearance.”
As the character was never named onscreen (to say nothing of the differences in appearance and behavior between the two versions), it’s probably safe to treat ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ as Korg’s first appearance in the MCU the character seen in ‘Thor: The Dark World’ as simply another Kronan. But while it likely wasn’t intentional, Korg’s retconned introduction into the MCU mirrors his debut in the comics.
Korg’s comic book counterpart was first introduced by writer Greg Pak and artist Carlo Pagulayan during the ‘Planet Hulk’ storyline in ‘Incredible Hulk #93’. As in the film, Korg had been abducted and forced into slavery alongside the Hulk as a gladiator on Sakaar. However, when it came time to flesh out Korg’s backstory, the comic retconned him into being one of the titular ‘Stone Men from Saturn’ who bedeviled Thor when the thunder god made his first appearance in ‘Journey into Mystery #83’
The latest entry in the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe, director Taika Waititi’s ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ is now playing in theaters everywhere. The film stars Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Mark Ruffalo, Jeff Goldblum, and Tessa Thompson.
