One of the key promotional scenes from ‘Thor: Ragnarok‘ showed Hela destroying Mjolnir and while that happened in the film it was originally set in a rather urban environment. It looked to be more of in an alley than what happened in the film so what made Cate Blanchett’s character take out the God of Thunder’s trusty weapon in a completely separate area? Well, it was related to another scene entirely which starred Odin.
This is where we have to warn you that there are spoilers below!
Those of us who have seen the film, which is likely anyone still reading this article, knows that Anthony Hopkins ended his run as Odin in a secluded field in Norway and after his death, Hela was no longer confined to her prison. What changed was actually where Odin died!
According to Waititi:
“What we wanted originally was for Thor and Loki to find Odin in New York, living on the streets, Fisher King style… There was something really cool and interesting about that, and I think that might be on the DVD, that version. But something about having him there and then dying made a lot of audiences in our test screenings feel too sorry for him. It was such a bummer seeing the great king of Asgard stuck in New York. We preferred the idea he’d be in some mystical Norse environment.”
I’m not going to lie, I probably would have agreed with the test audiences here. I felt the emotional impact worked great and that the battle being in New York might have caused any other number of problems that a remote location didn’t provide. Let’s just overlook for a moment the fact that Doctor Strange didn’t pop in to try and help. Aside from the problems a New York battle could have caused, the scenic view of Norway really felt fitting for a Norse God over say being in the heart of the Big Apple.
For those who still would be curious to see the original scene, it sounds like Waititi is hinting that it might be included in the home release among the myriad of other potential bonus scenes!
Are you happy we ended up having Odin pass away where he did or do you think that New York would have been a better place to go for Thor’s dad? Share your thoughts below True Believers!
Source: Empire
