We're just over a month away from the release of Thor: Ragnarok. The next entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has promised more humor than previous entries in this particular series, but a new trailer shows it won't be lacking in action. The trailer that announces the film's release in China is much more focused on the action that we've come to expect in Marvel films, it also includes an appearance by one character we've been expecting to see, Doctor Strange. Check it out.
The trailer posted to YouTube jumps immediately into a sequence with Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange. We've known for a year that Doctor Strange would factor into Thor: Ragnarok in some fashion, as the pair appeared together in the post-credits scene of Doctor Strange. However, this is the first we've seen of him in the new film. The discussion of a dire destiny sets the tone for the trailer as a whole, which is very different than what has been released stateside. From there, the trailer shifts into a pretty continuous stream of action. The tone isn't dark, but it certainly isn't humorous either. The music, combined with the visuals, still gives us the same basic feel that Thor: Ragnarok is a prog-rock album cover come to life.
For anybody who hasn't been happy with the apparent shift that the Thor franchise has taken toward a more Guardians of the Galaxy-like humor, this trailer at least shows that the movie will be balancing that lightness with the sort of action we've come to expect from the great Marvel movies. We get to see a couple of great fight moments between Thor and Hela, that look awesome, as well as a battle between Hela and Valkyrie. Everybody on Thor's new team gets a moment to shine and they look great.
We get a bit more of Cate Blanchett as Hela here than previous trailers have shown, and overall, she looks and sounds great. Marvel is given a hard time for their villains frequently, not without justification, and the Thor franchise has not been immune to the problem. Does anybody even remember the name of the bad guy in Thor: The Dark World? We're guessing that Hela will be at least a bit more memorable.
It is interesting that the Chinese trailer is so different than the versions we've seen here. Clearly, there's a feeling that this will resonate better with the Chinese audience. China is an invaluable part of the global box office and success in China means as much, or in many cases more, than success here, to the studio's bottom line. One has to wonder how China will react if the audience doesn't really realize how much humor is being injected into Thor: Ragnarok before they go to see it.
