Image: Marvel Entertainment/ YouTube

Thor: Ragnarok, the third installment in Marvel’s Thor franchise, is hitting theaters early next month, so director Taika Waititi sat down with triple j for a bit of promotion. In the interview, he admits for the first time that he named the movie’s space ships after cars made by Australia’s legendary Holden brand.


The Australian automotive industry—including Holden—is just about dead, but nothing can erase the influence the brand has had on Australian and Kiwi culture. That’s why, when Waititi (who hails from New Zealand) wanted to inject a bit of local culture into his movie (which was filmed primarily in Australia), he named the space ships after Holdens.

Among the names Waititi chose for his space ships is the Kingswood:

Photo: Holden


The Torana:



Photo: Holden

The Statesman:



Photo: Holden


And of course, the beloved Commodore:



Photo: Holden


Waititi says the point of injecting local culture into his movie was to make himself feel a bit more comfortable filming a dauntingly enormous project like Thor. He not only named the space ships after Holdens, but also cast Australian, Aboriginal and Māori actors (Waititi himself has a Māori background, and acted in the film), hired Australian filmmakers to shadow him, and gave local interns jobs on set.

gif: Marvel Entertainment/ YouTube


When the movie comes out in the U.S. on Nov. 3, listen up for the names of true giants in Australian automotive history. Hopefully those names will be accompanied by the sounds of enormous V8 engines.

h/t: Robert