If you're a self-respecting nerd, any movie featuring Karl Urban should get you excited. From the criminally underrated Dredd to the rebooted Star Trek franchise, the guy is almost always the best part of his many films. With Thor: Ragnarok set to debut this November, he will soon set his sights on the villainous role of Skurge alongside Cate Blanchett's Hela. The character looks utterly formidable in the film's trailers, but Urban recently revealed that he is siding with Hela more out of fear than true loyalty, saying:
When we find Skurge, he's operating the Bifrost because Heimdall is missing in action, and then pretty soon after that Hela shows up. Skurge sees the writing on the wall and has to make a decision whether to die or join her, so his instincts of self-preservation take over.
So it sounds like it's all about staying alive for this guy, rather than a higher calling. When Hela comes to Asgard to lay waste to the mythical realm, Skurge will find himself faced with a moment of fight or flight. In the end, he will decide that it would be better to ally with her and live than do battle with her and die like a warrior -- although that does not sound very Asgardian, does it? Skurge has been portrayed as a hero and a villain at different points in comics history (he's one of Thor's morally ambiguous characters), so it looks like Ragnarok has opted to make him pragmatic and conflicted antagonist, as opposed to a purely idealistic villain. He's aiding in the destruction of Asgard, but that doesn't mean that it sits well with him, or that he will stick with Hela by the time the credits roll.
Another thing that makes Karl Urban's comments to IGN so interesting is the fact that there's considerably more room for nuance in his depiction of Skurge. He's not a mindless drone like The Destroyer in the first Thor, and he is not a zealot like Kurse from Thor: The Dark World. He's a man of conflicted morality, and that internal conflict makes his action unpredictable. Could he ultimately end up changing sides to help Thor by the end of the movie? We cannot know for sure yet, but the odds of that happening seem higher than in other Marvel Cinematic Universe films.
The characterization of Skurge is only one of many elements that seem to make Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok so wholly unique from other Marvel movies. Based on the trailers for the upcoming threequel, it appears that Ragnarok is leaning far more heavily into its weirdness and comedy than other Marvel films. Beyond that, the use of The Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) as a secondary player could revolutionize the way in which major heroes weave in and out of Marvel solo movies. This legitimately looks like something that we have never seen before, so we cannot contain our excitement for what Ragnarok has in store.
Thor: Ragnarok will debut in theaters later this year on November 3, 2017. Make sure to let us know how excited you are for the upcoming Thor film in the comments section below, and check out our movie premiere guide to keep yourself informed on all of 2017's most notable theatrical releases!
