Countdown to ‘Endgame’: Our Favorite Moments From ‘Thor: Ragnarok’

We are only a few days away from the premiere of Avengers: Endgame and as the release date approaches and we reach the end of this journey, we want to look back on everything that brought us here. We’ve watched these heroes struggle, grow, and save humanity over the last ten years and share some of our favorite moments of their stories. We will be going through each phase in order, covering every movie leading up to April 26.  Next up is the final installment of the Thor trilogy, the masterpiece by New Zealand director Taika Waititi: Thor: Ragnarok.

Here are some of our favorite moments from the movie!

Emelie:

With its amazing visuals, humor, and stand out performances from everyone on the cast,Thor: Ragnarokeasily makes my top three list of favorite movies of all time. I am a massive fan of Loki, so it is probably not a surprise that I love this movie, but Loki is only a small part of all the reasons I love this movie. Moments such as Valkyrie’s arrival when Thor was captured by the bounty hunters, the Thor vs. The Hulk fight, “Get Help”, anything and everything The Grandmaster did, and Immigrant Song blasting during the final battle makes me smile just thinking about them. We got to see the relationship between Thor and Loki continue to grow with the need to work together against a common foe in the shape of their sister Hela, we were introduced to new characters that soon became fan favorites, and we were left with a feeling of hope of a new start as the movie ended.

I feel like this movie would not have been the same had it not been for director Taika Waititi, and I sincerely hope Marvel brings him back to direct more movies in the future.

Mikayla:

Thor: Ragnarok was easily the best out of the Thor trilogy. With the expansion and growth of technology in cinematography, I guess it was no surprise. From the very beginning, the movie had my attention as it brought back the mythology of the Norse gods but with a modern taste. On top of that, it brought back what I loved from the first Thor movie: the brotherhood between Thor and Loki. While it was briefly touched on in Thor: The Dark World, Ragnarok based a lot of the key points on it. From when Thor first returns to Asgard to realize Loki might not truly be dead to their Midgard adventure to Sakarr and their escape, to the ultimate defeat of Hela and the fall of Asgard.

With my attention so easily captured in the beginning by the brothers, it should come as no surprise that my favorite moment happens within the first 30 minutes. It has nothing to do with the plot, but I believe that it is one of the finest moments in the movie. Shortly after Odin passes on and right before Hela is released, the brothers are forced to realize that maybe meeting their long-lost sister in Midgard clothes is not the best. Faster than the audience can blink, both brothers have changed their appearance. Why are these few milliseconds so amazing to me? Because the manner of both brothers. Thor, loud and boisterous, uses lightning to change, whereas Loki, the sly and sleek magician, does it with a wave of his hand. Both ways add to the characters of Thor and Loki, and continues to prove that they are two sides of the same coin. Even as the scene carries on with them confronting Hela, Thor wants to use his voice while Loki uses his wits. Three movies out and the writers and actors are still portraying the characters brilliantly.

Despite the brothers being my favorite, this movie opened up the door for Tessa Thompson beautifully adding her to the growing list of female superheroes in Marvel’s belt. Marvel has continued to make their movies greater and keeps the audience wanting more of the final pieces of the puzzle, and Thor: Ragnarok was no different as it lead into the tail-end of the final phases.

Conny:

Thor: Ragnarok is not only the best film out of the Thor trilogy, it is easily in my top three Marvel movies ever (and that’s a tough competition).

From minute one, I just remember being incredibly entertained. Be it through the amazing humor, wit and comedic timing, the 80’s vibes or the amazing casting choices, Ragnarok isn’t just a snack, it’s a full-course meal, including seconds. Taika Waititi did an amazing job capturing the essence of not only Thor as a character, but also his relationships, conflicts and his strengths, which have always included irony and humor. I love Taika’s choice to give Thor and Loki a common enemy in their sister Hela, who was formidably played by Cate Blanchett. In this film, we witness Loki having even more character development, starting with his arrogance and thirst for power in the beginning, to his self-preservation on Sikar, and finally his will to fight for his people and his brother. I loved that Loki had the possibility to show more than just one side in this movie and I’m even more glad that the movie gave him room to be funny and show of his trickster personality a bit more.

Obviously, there are two more amazing casting choices that were made in this movie: Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie and Jeff Goldblum as The Grandmaster. Thompson manages to create a powerful, strong character without the stereotypical “strong female character” narrative, shows conflict, sorrow and emotions and adds to that by being a complete and utter badass. Goldblum alone is hilarious, but his portrayal of The Grandmaster was absolute and utter perfection. We can see typical mannerisms in his character, but we can also see so many new sides to him in this new character, it’s an absolute joy to watch. Finally, who could forget The Hulk a.k.a. Bruce Banner, who has also been stuck on Sikar since the events of Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2014).

I truly have too many favorite scenes to pick from. I’m going to pick two that I especially love: Thor meeting Doctor Strange and the hilarity that ensues, and the final fight for Asgard. Both of these scenes show the range and potential this movie has. Just writing about it has made me want to watch it again and again.

Sydney: 

Thor: Ragnarok was one of the MCU films that I felt was extremely underrated. It’s by far my favorite Marvel movie and it was a true masterpiece operating under the guise of much-needed comic relief. Loki is my favorite MCU character and Ragnarok delivered plenty of him, as well as the introductions of two new characters who have also become fast favorites of mine: Korg (voiced by genius director Taika Waititi) and the Grandmaster (portrayed brilliantly by Jeff Goldblum).

On top of an interesting plot, phenomenal acting, and an A+ script, Ragnarok was easily one of the most visually stunning Marvel movies I have ever seen. The Valkyrie flashback scene, the scenes shot on top of Norweigan cliffs, the fight on the rainbow bridge, and the final fight between Hela and Surtur are a few of the most aesthetically pleasing and believable scenes I’ve seen in any movie, but especially in a superhero film.

Ragnarok is probably the only MCU movie that I can say I’ve watched over and over and over again, and I’ll definitely never fail to find Korg’s rock-paper-scissors jokes funny.

Nicole:

Raganarok was a break from previous two Thor movies, in my mind.  I felt like the first two movies were more serious, with just the occasional comedic line or break, whereas Raganarok was a lot more lighthearted while still handling well the serious moments that moved the plot along.  Also, we met Valkyrie, although we didn’t know who she was at first.  We found out where the Hulk had been since Avengers: Age of Ultron, and also found where Loki had gone after Thor unmasked him as Odin.  I think my favorite scene was when Thor, Valkyrie and the Hulk were in the Hulk’s room talking and planning.  We got to see an unsure Thor, a Hulk that was much more human than he had been before and Valkyrie who was running from who she had been and was not happy at the thought of being dragged back into the struggles of the Asgardian royal family.  This scene ties with the battle scene where Thor, Loki, Hulk and Valkyrie come together to fight Hela and let loose Raganarok to destroy Asgard and Hela.

Stay with Nerds and Beyond for Marvel moments as we count down to Avengers: Endgame!