Marvel Studios have long made a habit of hiring directors you wouldn’t automatically think of for major action and SFX-driven blockbusters, and their selection for the upcoming ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ is no exception.

Not unlike the Russo Brothers (directors of the last two ‘Captain America’ movies, currently at work on ‘Avengers: Infinity War’), New Zealand actor, writer and director Taika Waititi has, up until now, worked almost exclusively in small-scale comedy, a style utilised in his two ‘Team Thor’ short films included on recent Marvel Blu-ray releases (check the latest one out on the ‘Doctor Strange’ disc, it’s hilarious).

Naturally, this has led fans to ponder just how comedic the third ‘Thor’ solo movie will turn out to be; a reasonable concern, given that previous entry ‘Thor: The Dark World’ proved a very awkward mish-mash of broad slapstick humour and dark, brooding seriousness. However, Waititi tells Entertainment Weekly that his film is “not really a comedy.

Taika Waititi directs Chris Hemsworth (credit: Jasin Boland/Marvel Studios) More

“There are some really great moments we’re going to have in the film. Knowing that it was Bruce Banner and Thor on kind of a road trip journey, that lends itself to a tone because those guys are both really funny. I was like you gotta exploit Chris’ comic abilities. He’s so good and underutilized in that department. He’s legitimately one of the funniest things in this film.”

Waititi cites a very specific, fan-pleasing point of reference to describe Thor’s dynamic in ‘Ragnarok’: John Carpenter’s 1986 cult classic ‘Big Trouble in Little China,’ which cast Kurt Russell as dim-witted tough guy Jack Burton.

The director explains, “‘Big Trouble in Little China‘ was one of those films where Jack Burton is a buffoon but he’s lovable and you’re with him the entire way. I thought Thor has got to be the one you want to be with in every scene.”

Thor: Ragnarok’s very 80s-esque logo (credit: Marvel Studios) More

Ever since the official logo for the film was released, it’s been apparent that ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ would have something of a 1980s vibe, and this has only been confirmed further by the recently released stills from the film presenting a shorn Thor on the very colourful planet of Sakaar. It makes sense, then, that an 80s favourite would be a key influence on the film.

As well as bringing back Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston and Anthony Hopkins, ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ will introduce Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Jeff Goldblum as The Grandmaster, and Cate Blanchett as villainess Hela.

It opens in UK cinemas on 27 October.

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