'Thor: Ragnarok' Will Be a "Buddy Road Movie", Apparently

The last word anyone could use to describe Marvel’s gamma-radiated Hulk is “buddy.” But that’s how Avengers star Mark Ruffalo described the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok, co-starring Chris Hemsworth and Ruffalo reprising their burly superhero alter-egos. Calling it a “buddy road movie” to Entertainment Tonight, Ruffalo hints at a different movie than what Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige previously described it, which was Thor’s “most dangerous and heroic adventure yet.”

Does this mean Hulk and Thor go on a road trip and get lost at an abandoned summer camp? Nah. Rather, “buddy movies” could frame how Thor and Hulk behave around each other in the seemingly final film of the solo Thor series. The two have had a fun, but underdeveloped relationship in all of the Marvel movies thus far. Though they have fought and shared cute moments like Hulk’s sucker punch, they’ve never seemed like friends beyond the context of the Avengers.

With the other superheroes busy after Captain America: Civil War, Thor: Ragnarok could be Hulk and Thor’s bonding journey amid a ton of galactic ass- kicking. So Thor: Ragnarok could be less Marvel’s Tommy Boy and more like Marvel’s Rush Hour.

And really, “buddy road movie” isn’t a bad fit for Thor: Ragnarok. Its director, Taiki Waititi, was celebrated for his last film Hunt for the Wilderpeople which centered on a similar disparate relationship taken across the dangerous New Zealand wilderness. There were fewer superpowers and Viking gods, but friendship can be just as powerful.

Thor: Ragnarok is slated for release on November 3, 2017.