Based on the first trailer, Taika Waititi and company took a ton of inspiration from the comics when putting together ‘Thor: Ragnarok’. Not only are there plenty of nods to the acclaimed ‘Planet Hulk’ storyline, but Jack Kirby’s colorful and intricate fingerprints are all over the Asgardian Avenger’s third solo film. However, True Believers may notice that Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster is lacking his traditional blue skin as seen in the comics. Well, apparently the veteran actor’s past filmography kept that from happening.
While speaking to IGN recently, Waititi revealed the reasoning behind keeping Goldblum’s appearance more natural in the upcoming Phase Three film. The director shared that he and the House of Ideas wanted to take full advantage of the actor’s recognizable face and star power, so they kept his face intact because they “didn’t want to detract from that by concealing his appearance”. However, there was also another reason:
“Because he did another movie where he was blue.”
That movie in question was the 1988 sci-fi musical comedy cult classic ‘Earth Girls Are Easy’. Goldblum appeared alongside Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans as a trio of colorful and fuzzy aliens that crash their ship in a Southern California swimming pool that belongs to Geena Davis, who eventually discovers that all three are very attractive under all that multi-colored body hair. Though most will remember it as another pretty silly B-movie, the film was delightfully 80s and even included musical performances featuring Julie Brown. Ok, that still sounds like a silly B-movie, but it was still a lot of fun.
Anyway, regardless of whether Waititi was joking or not, Goldblum won’t be donning blue skin once again for his appearance as one of the Elders of the Universe in the highly anticipated Marvel Studios production. But even without it, it’s a pretty safe bet that he’ll still knock the part of the hedonistic pleasure-seeking ruler of Sakaar out of the park as he has done with so many roles in the past.
What do you think about The Grandmaster forgoing his traditional blue skin for ‘Thor: Ragnarok’? Are you disappointed that he won’t look more like his comic book counterpart? Or are you just happy that Jeff Goldblum is playing this part? Sound off in the comments.
‘Thor: Ragnarok’ starring Chris Hemsworth, Karl Urban, Jeff Goldblum, Cate Blanchett, Tessa Thompson, Jamie Alexander, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Anthony Hopkins, and Mark Ruffalo strikes theaters on November 3, 2017.
Despite being a “professional writer”, Ben likes run-on sentences far too much. For more of his attempts at being funny and the occasional insightful thought, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
