Sometimes as an actor you must hide your own personal feelings about franchise when accepting an offer to be a part of it. Jurassic Park star Sam Neill certainly knows that lesson. As while he’s not exactly a Marvel Comics devotee, the man did take a cameo role in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok. A role that, as he recently revealed, found him truly lost as to what exactly was going on in that particular scenario.
When asked by Collider about whether he and his fellow cameo participants Matt Damon and Luke Hemsworth were either playing themselves or random Asgardian actors, Neill admitted he didn’t have a clue how to answer that question. In admitting so, Sam Neill had the perfect opportunity to discuss the time he actually saw Thor: Ragnarok with some friends who were more clued into the happenings of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The results, as you’re read below, were absolutely hysterical:
I’m not really entirely nerdishly [into] the Marvel franchise. I was completely baffled by so many things. I went with friends who sort of knew a bit more than me. I was like, ’Do you know what planet we’re on at the moment? Is that Hopkins or was that Loki?’ And they were explaining it, they said, ‘You’re in the film! Why do we have to explain it to you?’ I said, ‘Because I’m a bit lost. I’m truly lost here.’ I shouldn’t really confess to that. I should really know what’s going on. [Laughs] It is a strange - it looks like Tony Hopkins, but it’s not!
That special Thor: Ragnarok cameo saw Sam Neill playing a narrator meant to resemble Anthony Hopkins’ Odin, who tells, “The Tragedy of Loki of Asgard,” just as the latest production was wrapping upon Thor’s return. While MCU fans could pick out the fact that the events depicted were that of Loki’s apparent “death” during Thor: The Dark World, it’s easy to see how people not in the Marvel Comics realm might be a little confused. But puzzled as he was, Neill certainly brought his usual brand of performance to a beautiful easter egg for fans of Marvel and/or the Jurassic Park actor’s career, as seen below:
To be fair, moviegoers who aren’t familiar with the original Jurassic Park movies might have a similarly hard time picking out the significance of Sam Neill’s Dr. Alan Grant as he’s set to return in next year’s Jurassic World: Dominion. So you could imagine someone sitting through the expected dinosaur action starring Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt, only to be scratching their head as to why that actor from Thor: Ragnarok has shown up.
Even playing his MCU role in the dark, Sam Neill has made his brief moment in Thor: Ragnarok all the more memorable in light of these revelations. Though, one would hope that if Mr. Neill liked Taika Waititi’s threequel well enough, he’d at least go back and watch the previous Thor films to catch up on the plot. Especially in light of the fact that Thor: Love and Thunder is poised to bring the man back into the very confusing picture.
