Taika Waititi, director of Thor: Love and Thunder, has revealed early ideas for the Guardians of the Galaxy and Russell Crowe’s Zeus that didn’t make it into the final film.

Taika Waititi first entered the Thor franchise when he directed 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok, which reinvented the series with a fresh injection of the director’s signature comedic stylings. Thor: Love and Thunder continues that tradition, picking up Thor’s story from where it was left in Avengers: Endgame.

The film finds Thor still traveling with the Guardians of the Galaxy at first, though he soon parts ways with them as he embarks on a quest that brings him face to face with various gods, including Russell Crowe’s Zeus.

In a recent interview, Taika Waititi revealed why the Guardians’ role was so small in the final film and why all of Russell Crowe’s dialogue was shot twice.

Taika Waititi Changes Up The Marvel Formula

Some fans were a little disappointed that the Guardians of the Galaxy only appeared very briefly in Thor: Love and Thunder‘s opening scenes, but Taika Waititi has revealed the decision to confine the Guardians to a limited role in the film was carefully considered.

In a recent interview with Insider, Taika Waititi revealed that the idea of bringing the Guardians back into the fold in Love and Thunder‘s final scenes was discussed, but he felt that “the cavalry coming at the end” had become too much of a staple in Marvel movies and he wanted to avoid the cliché.

Speaking about the Guardians of the Galaxy’s role in the film, Waititi said:

“The plan was always to have them in the beginning and then move on. Because they have their own movie. There was talk about having them come back at the end… The thing is that happens in every movie. No more. No more of the cavalry coming at the end. So we shelved that idea. We just wanted Jane to come in at the end.”

During the same interview, Taika Waititi was also asked about Russell Crowe’s performance as Zeus in Thor: Love and Thunder – specifically, his Greek accent. Waititi revealed that there was a lot of discussion and uncertainty over the accent, leading to all of Crowe’s dialogue being shot twice, once with the Greek accent and once with a British accent.

Interestingly, Chris Hemsworth uses a British accent as Thor, rather than a Scandinavian one to nod to the god’s Norse roots. However, when it came to Zeus, Taika Waititi decided it just made more sense to have the character sound Greek:

“We actually talked at length about the accent. We wondered if someone did a Greek accent of a Greek god, is it going to be a farce? Will it be too silly? And Russell was very much wanting it to be Greek. But I wasn’t sure, so we ended up doing two versions of every take with Russell. One in a Greek accent and then another in a British accent. Because I felt people would think Zeus would sound British like Laurence Olivier in ‘Clash of the Titans.’

“…But then I realized in post that it’s actually more offensive to the Greeks to have Zeus sound like he’s British. And test audiences loved the Greek accent. I’m really happy with it. But, yeah, he had to do every take once in the Greek accent and once with a British accent because I couldn’t make up my mind. But Russell was right all along.”

Here is the synopsis for Thor: Love and Thunder:

The film finds Thor (Chris Hemsworth) on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced – a quest for inner peace. But his retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who – to Thor’s surprise – inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor. Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.

Directed by Taika Waititi and produced by Kevin Feige and Brad Winderbaum, the Thor solo film stars Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Jaimie Alexander, Taika Waititi, Russell Crowe, Natalie Portman, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper.

Thor: Love and Thunder is now playing in theaters. Follow Heroic Hollywood for the latest news on the latest Marvel Studios film, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more original video content.

Source: Insider