God of War Ragnarok’s Thor Actor Took Inspiration From a Very Different MCU Character
If there’s Norse Mythology involved, it’s gotta involve Thor. God of War Ragnarok understands that fans know and love the God of Thunder thanks to his oversized role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the game gives Thor a prominent role. For voice actor Ryan Hurst, his interpretation fo the son of Odin was inspired by a very different MCU character, though: the Hulk.
In an interview with Variety, Hurst explained that both characters exhibit uncontrollable amounts of rage and anger. Oh, and they both love to fight.
“There’s some of that, that comes in through the saying, ‘Hulk Smash,” but in a more layered way,” Hurst said. “The way that I interpreted it is that you need access to superhuman amounts of strength, rage, and unpredictability.”
Hurst was also heavily inspired by a very different character: Tommy Lee Jones’ Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in No Country for Old Men.
“He was a powerful being that harbored forms of regret that manifested in his voice,” Hurst said.
Hursts’ Thor is a wildly different interpretation of the character than Chris Hemsworth’s in the MCU. Whereas Hemsworth’s benevolent being will be cracking wacky one-liners and giving odes of love to Stormbreaker, the Thor in God of War Ragnarok is a brutal killing machine.
“We did the flip of everything that Marvel has done, where all the Æsir gods are the bad guys, and all the Giants are good guys,” said narrative director Matt Sophos.
In the original Thor film, Jötunheim’s Frost Giants were portrayed as the villains, he said. “Almost everything we know about Norse mythology, the gods were way grayer than in a lot of popular depictions, especially the MCU.”
Sophos continued: “I hope we surprise people in ways that they didn’t see coming, but realize it couldn’t have been any other way with the Thor in our game. I’m so thankful to get Ryan to come in and play this character because he breathes so much life into someone that could be one note.”
God of War Ragnarok is now available on PlayStation 4 and 5. You can read our full God of War: Ragnarok interview here.
Carson Burton is a freelance news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter at @carsonsburton.
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