The Funny Gag Thor: Ragnarok's Director Liked To Play On Chris Hemsworth

thor: ragnarok improv

By all accounts, Thor: Ragnarok was a very funny set to work on, with the cast being encouraged to improv their way through scenes and generally have a good time while getting down to business. The trailers for the new Marvel film have shown that the third Thor flick may include even more humor than previous movies in the franchise. However, the funny moments weren't just happening onscreen. A recent profile on Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi revealed that he really enjoyed messing with lead actor Chris Hemsworth on set, and the results were pretty amusing.

For instance, Taika Waititi would make a show about pretending his mike wasn't on. Then he would start talking about Hemsworth as if he thought the actor couldn't hear him, joking that he'd chosen to do a Marvel project with the wrong Chris.

Ah, we should've got the other Chris. Chris Pine, Chris Pratt, anything but Hemsworth.

If you've been keeping tabs on Marvel and DC projects, you probably already know there are a lot of Chris' involved. Chris Hemsworth plays Thor, Chris Pratt is one of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Chris Evans plays Captain America and Chris Pine is DC Comics' Steve Trevor. There's an awful lot of Chris' and Taika Waititi using the concept to egg Hemsworth on is a pretty funny, albeit slightly mean-spirited joke.

The gag didn't end there, however. Chris Hemsworth also told the New York Times that Taika Waititi would then mercilessly keep the gag going, pretending after making the first comment that he had just noticed his mike was actually on. Only then would he 'apologize' to the actor. According to Hemsworth, he'd joke,

Oh, crap -- sorry, guys, sorry.

Of course, it was a movie about Thor that the director signed up for, and it's a movie that was obviously going to star Chris Hemsworth, but the fact that Taika Waititi felt comfortable enough with his lead actor to be cracking these sorts of jokes on set sort of gives you an idea of the type of environment the Thor: Ragnarok crew was working in. We previously learned that it was just this sort of environment that led a Make-A Wish kid to come up with the now-famous "he's a friend from work" line in the Thor: Ragnarok trailer. It's also the type of environment that even let Anthony Hopkins, who plays Odin, goof around.

Taika Waititi's impromptu way of filming even reportedly surprised Mark Ruffalo, who shows up as Bruce Banner in the upcoming flick. But it all seemingly came together and became a fairly fun and cohesive movie, if early reviews are to be believed. If you'd like to know more about Thor: Ragnarok, you can take a look at our full guide. Or if you're planning on seeing the flick, tickets are already available for pre-sale.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.