Thor: Ragnarok Out on Blu-ray/DVD Today

The third Thor movie (and in some people’s opinions, the best) is out today on home video. Thor: Ragnarok stars Chris Hemsworth as the God of Thunder — only he’s stuck across the universe without his hammer. He works to escape the Grandmaster’s (Jeff Goldblum) gladiatorial battles with the Hulk and return to Asgard to stop Hela (Cate Blanchett) from bringing about Ragnarok, accompanied by Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), Loki (Tom Hiddleston), and Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson).

Thor: Ragnarok is directed by Taika Waititi from a screenplay by Eric Pearson and Craig Kyle & Christopher L. Yost.

In honor of the release, Disney has been putting out all kinds of promotional clips from the bonus features (scroll down for that list). Here are several.

Waititi discusses the influence of Jack Kirby’s artwork (from the commentary):

Producer Kevin Feige also provides a tribute to Kirby (from bonus features):

This bonus feature clip shows Waititi playing Korg:

Here, he talks about filming the Valkyrie flashback with a special strobe lightning effect:

This bonus feature part has Blanchett talk about playing the villain:

while this one focuses on Thompson’s Valkyrie and her fighting style:

Blu-ray Bonus Features

• Director’s Introduction
• Deleted/Extended Scenes – Deleted Scenes: The Sorcerer Supreme, Skurge Finds Heimdall & Hulk Chases Thor Through Sakaar and Extended Scenes: Thor Meets the Grandmaster, Stupid Avenger vs. Tiny Avenger & Grandmaster and Topaz
• Gag Reel
• Exclusive Short – “Team Darryl” – Fresh off being unseated as the ruler of Sakaar, the Grandmaster makes his way to Earth to start a new life. It’s been over a year since Thor left Australia, and Darryl has been struggling to pay his rent. Now Darryl needs a new roommate to help make the monthly payments. Unfortunately for Darryl, the Grandmaster was the only one who answered Darryl’s “Roommate Needed” ad. and with no viable options, the Grandmaster moves in.
• Marvel Studios: The First Ten Years – The Evolution of Heroes – Marvel’s universe is vast and transcends both time and space. We’ll examine the Cinematic Universe as a whole and revisit each of our heroes’ current locations and their place in the current MCU timeline, as it all leads up to the one culminating event: “Avengers: Infinity War.”
• Getting in Touch with Your Inner Thor – Director Taika Waititi has brought his unique sensibility and sense of humor to the film in a great many ways, but it is the evolution of Thor’s own sense of humor which stands out the most in the new film. This piece explores the impact Chris Hemsworth has made on the development of his widely-loved character and celebrates the mighty cast and crew who reveal the fun and hard work that went into assembling Thor’s eccentric counterparts.
• Unstoppable Women: Hela & Valkyrie – This piece explores the strong female characters in Thor: Ragnarok, their importance in the MCU, their incredible casting, and their epic comic origins.
• Finding Korg – A tongue-in-cheek interview with Taika on casting Korg. He describes the difficult search for just the right evolution of the character design and the nuances of this instantly classic character in the MCU. This conversation will also delve into all the extraordinary visual effects that brought Korg, Sakaar, and the worlds of Thor: Ragnarok to life.
• Sakaar: On the Edge of the Known and Unknown – Sakaar is the collection point for all lost and unloved things. This documentary will answer all known and unknown questions while also exploring the hard work and creativity that went into creating the look and feel of Sakaar. From design inspired by Jack Kirby’s classic artwork to the dedication of the visual development team to the awe-inspiring physical and digital production, you will see this distant world come alive.
• Journey Into Mystery – A deep dive story piece with the writers, director, and producer Kevin Feige about the inspirations for Thor: Ragnarok within the comics. This piece also further explores Thor’s comic book origins and classic arcs through interviews with some of the most important comic creators, such as Walt Simonson and Jack Kirby.
• 8bit Scenes – Final Bridge Battle + Sakaar Spaceship Battle. Dive into these climactic sequences presented in retro video-game format.
• Directors Commentary

Apropos of nothing, the fun fact I learned from the PR was that “Traditionally, the Grandmaster in the comics is blue-skinned, but they thought people might tie it back to Jeff Goldblum’s character from Earth Girls Are Easy.” And what’s wrong with that, I’d like to know?

These special features are listed as digital exclusives, so I guess Disney’s gone back to making sure no home video package is actually complete.

Evolution of Thor and Hulk’s Bromance – We’ll examine this superhero friendship, which has spanned through several Marvel films. From their original Helicarrier fight match to the now iconic Hulk punch from Avengers 1, see how Marvel’s most powerful superheroes become the most extraordinary superhero buddies.

Additional Deleted Scenes – Travel to Asgard & Race to the Wormhole

Anyway, this seems like a nice set of extras, with some actual interesting information about the filmmaking, and I’m looking forward to seeing the movie again.