As Thor: Ragnarok’s cast rolled in, a small army of crew worked through the weekend as they race to finish building a huge outdoor village circling what looks to be a Gladiator-style battleground on the western side of the studio lot.



The arena — the perfect place to launch a Mjolnir (Thor’s hammer) — adds weight to reports Thor: Ragnarok’s storyline will see Thor encounter the Hulk on a violent planet where The Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) has forced Hulk to compete in Gladiator-style games.



Production sources said the outdoor set was “three-quarters” done.



“They’re running about two weeks behind schedule but that’s not that unusual for a film of this scale,” a source said.



“It just means they won’t have as many “rain days” in the production schedule.”



Several space ships will also feature in the film, with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige confirming “80 to 90 per cent” of Thor: Ragnarok’s story “takes place in the cosmos”.



“There are only a couple of scenes on Earth in this movie, ” he said.