In early trailers for Thor: Ragnarok, Hela could be seen destroying Mjolnir in a New York City alleyway. That's not a particularly glamorous location for such an iconic moment to take place but no one really complained at the time. Despite that, a newer trailer for the Marvel Studios threequel revealed that the shocking destruction of the God of Thunder's magic hammer was moved to an open field instead.
During an interview with Digital Spy, Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi shed some light on what he changed the scene (presumably during reshoots) and his decision to include Odin and Loki in it.
"Here’s the thing, mate. Here’s the thing: Alleyways aren’t cool, and fields are cool, all right? Ask anyone. We originally shot some of that stuff in a setting that was set for New York, and what we wanted to do was to have them go down to Earth and they see Doctor Strange, but it felt too convenient that he was suddenly just down the road, in an alley, and also everything up until then had been so fast-paced and all over the place, we wanted to go somewhere peaceful and actually chill out with the characters, and be with Odin and pass this wisdom and stuff, and not have to hear stupid yellow cabs honking out the back.
"It just felt like a terrible environment to have a scene which could be very emotional for what happens with Odin and the boys, and the first time we’ve ever seen the three guys all together, and him telling them he loves them, and acknowledging Loki as his son. It was just very important for us to be in a kind of beautiful, peaceful environment."
Does this mean hobo Odin has been cut from the movie and that Thor will find his father in Norway instead? It certainly sounds that way but such is the nature of reshoots so we probably shouldn't be shocked. Adding more emotion to a big scene like this is no bad thing, though, and it will be interesting seeing how this plays out in Thor: Ragnarok now! What do you guys think of this change to the film?