“God of war Ragnarok thor” is one of the most explosive video games of 2022. Focusing on Norse mythology, the game features iconic mythological figures such as Heimdall, Freya, Odin, and Thor.
Thor, in particular, is highly sought after due to his pivotal role in the game and his overall popularity in pop culture. Thor has many layers, both physical and spiritual.
So Variety sat down with scenario director Matt Sophos, art director Raf Grassetti, and voice actor Ryan Hurst to discuss how Sony Santa Monica approached the God of Thunder.
Marvel Cinematic Universe
Generally, when people think of Thor, they think of Marvel Comics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Where Chris Hemsworth plays him, there, he is benevolent, but in “God of war Ragnarok thor. He is portrayed as a ruthless killing machine. Sophos believes this line of thinking fits the story the team was trying to tell.
“We’ve done all the reversals that Marvel has done. Where the Aesir gods are all bad, and the giants are all good,” he says, noting that Jotunheim’s ice giants are portrayed negatively in the MCU.
Sophos continues, “Almost everything we know about Norse mythology. The gods were much grayer than many popular depictions, especially in the MCU.” He stated. He brings up Thor’s two goats, Tangrisnil and Tangunjorst. In one story, Thor stays at a farmer’s house and is fed his goats. As long as there is nothing wrong with the goat’s bones, Thor can revive the goat without problems with his hammer, Mjolnir.
One of the children breaks a ham bone
However, one of the children breaks a ham bone, and the revived goat is crippled in its hind legs. As punishment, Thor takes away the family’s two children and makes them his servants forever.
Hearst, who voices the fearsome god in Ragnarok, said, “Yeah, that’s actually how they approached me.” I want you to play Thor. What’s your take on the goat?
Hearst explains that one of his main inspirations for Thor was Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, played by actor Tommy Lee Jones in “No Country for Old Men.” He says he was a powerful presence with a sense of remorse, “and it showed in his voice.”
Surprisingly, Hearst brings up the Hulk as another source of inspiration. Both men, he says, have unbridled anger and rage, and sometimes they don’t know where to channel it.
They also love the art of fighting.” The term “hulk smash” gives some indication of this, but it has a more layered meaning. He continues, “The way I interpreted it is that you need to harness a superhuman amount of strength, anger, and unpredictability.”
As for Thor’s design, in general, most of the Assyrian deities are made to be taller than Kratos. Garcetti, “We knew that Thor had to be as impressive, if not more so, than Kratos.” Thor’s size was necessary to give him a powerful presence.
Designing Greek and Norse God
Says Sophos, “We wanted Thor to have an imposing presence. In the previous film. One of Thor’s sons, Magni, was introduced for the first time, and he was also very large. We extrapolated that to Dad, so he should be big.”
Before 2018’s “God of War,” the franchise’s previous films used Greek mythology. Grassetti explains that the biggest difference between designing Greek and Norse gods was that, historically, the latter was not as flashy.
A delicate balance had to be struck between making the Norse deities look impressive and not dressing them up like gold-plated armor.
When you design these gods and understand that this franchise is going to be more down-to-earth, these gods are just living with humans,” he says. But they still need to look like gods.
One of the most iconic parts of Thor’s design is his exposed abdomen within the upper body armor and shoulder pads. This contrasts the MCU’s Thor with Hemsworth’s well-developed abs. Thor’s initial design sparked controversy, with those expecting something similar.
‘Many figures were reduced in size so they could be read from a distance. The belly symbolizes Thor, and we needed to make sure he was proud of it,” explains Grassetti.
What makes Thor stand out is his contrast with Kratos. For example, while Kratos is right-handed, Thor is left-handed. In addition, Kratos can call upon the Leviathan Axe, a weapon that he can throw like a boomerang, and it will return to his hand. However, while Thor can do the same, he tends to move instead of the hammer, throwing it to its destination and jumping.
such as killing many Titans
At the same time, Sophos also says that Thor is a clone of Kratos. Thor believes that he is irredeemable because of his terrible actions, such as killing many Titans. Similarly, Kratos started a new family after killing all the Greek gods in the franchise’s previous installment.
“He is trying to hold on to what is left of the family he is with,” Sophos explains. ‘He’s trying to be better but doesn’t believe he will be in the end. Because he has a father, Odin, he was told that he could never be more than this blunt instrument that Odin uses when he needs to kill something”.
He added, “What if Thor made a different choice? Maybe it doesn’t have to be that way. If Kratos can try to be better, maybe Thor can try to be better, too.
Sophos is looking forward to seeing how players react to Thor in God of war Ragnarok thor, especially since Marvel already has high expectations. We want to surprise everyone with something unexpected, especially since Marvel already has high expectations,” he said, “but we couldn’t think of a better Thor to bring to our game. Ryan brings to life a character that tends to be one-note, and I’m so grateful to have Ryan here to play this character.”
Hurst added, “I am very excited for people to finally be able to buy (this game) around the world.” He added.