The wizards at Weta Workshop have an impressive pedigree — they’ve created costumes and props for everything from Blade Runner 2049 to the Lord of the Rings movies. But for their recent project, they had to adopt a more colorful approach.
Thor: Ragnarok is the third Marvel film starring Chris Hemsworth, and it’s turned out to be one of the best superhero movies ever made, smashing records at the box office during its opening weekend. Staying true to the multihued and dense artwork of Jack Kirby’s original comics, the film is filled with vibrant primary colors throughout the costumes and sets. In fact, the design of the entire planet of Sakaar, ruled by Jeff Goldblum’s eccentric Grandmaster, is a tribute to Kirby.
When New Zeland’s renowned Weta Workshop began work on the costumes and props for the film, the special effects and company was immediately thrilled at the prospect of designing armored suits in bold and bright colors. “The overall look of the movie is amazing,” Project Supervisor Lans Hansen said in a post at the Weta Workshop site. “It’s such a unique look.”
Sixteen suits for the Grandmaster Guard were created in yellow, red, green, and purple. Production Manager Danielle Prestidge said that it was “probably the most amount of color we’ve used on a costume job.”
For the gladiator helmets, bigger was always better. They used a 3D printer to create a helmet big enough for the massive noggin of The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo).
New Zealand native Karl Urban also came by the Weta Workshop to model his costume — a blue metal gladiator-style suit of armor for his role as Skurge. The designers even got to create a costume for director Taika Waititi himself, who plays a rock creature in the film.
The movie itself is quite hilarious for a superhero action film, and the director even said that up to 80 percent of the lines were improvised. Taking those kinds of latitudes probably seemed like a risky venture at the time, but the result is a surprisingly fresh take on the Marvel Comic Universe.
And working at Weta Workshop seems like it could be one of the coolest jobs in the world, doesn’t it?
