Thor’s voice actor in God of War: Ragnarök talks about partially basing his performance on a Marvel character, but not the one many would expect.

Thor’s voice actor in God of War: Ragnarök reveals how the Hulk partially inspired his portrayal. God of War: Ragnarok’s interpretation of Thor stood out for its departure from typical pop culture depictions and received a lot of attention from fans and commentators. The actor’s statement helps explain where the version players saw came from.

The God of War: Ragnarök is released on November 9 and continues the story of Kratos and his son Atreus, which began with the 2018 soft reboot of the series. As the name suggests, it takes place during the mythical Norse end times, Ragnarök, which Kratos started by killing the Norse god Baldur in the previous game. Although the new God of War game has only been out for a few days, Ragnarok’s depiction of Thor has received considerable attention after the heavy-bodied thunder god made an appearance during the 2021 PlayStation Showcase.

Thor voice actor Ryan Hurst recently sat down for an interview with Variety alongside Ragnarok narrative director Matt Sophos and art director Raf Grassetti. The trio discussed Thor’s influences, with Hurst revealing that two main inspirations inspired his portrayal. One was the performance of Tommy Lee Jones, who played Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in No Country for Old Men, whose voice conveys both the character’s strength and deep regret. The other was Marvel’s Hulk, who probably isn’t the MCU character most would expect.

Hurst explained that both Hulk and Ragnarök Thor are filled with uncontrollable amounts of rage and anger that are not always channeled in the right direction. However, both Thor and Hulk have a genuine love of fighting, which comes through in the acting. “There’s something about it that comes through the saying ‘Hulk Smash,’ but in a much more layered way,” Hurst said. “I interpreted it as having access to superhuman strength, rage and unpredictability”.

These influences make a lot of sense considering God of War: Ragnarök’s portrayal of Thor, who has little to do with Marvel’s version of the character. Arguably, however, it is more compatible with the Norse myths. Besides Ragnarök’s Thor being red-haired as his mythological counterpart, the Norse depiction was far from an ideal hero. For example, Sophos recounted a Norse myth in which Thor kidnapped and virtually enslaved two children forever after one of them broke a goat’s leg.

The developers also talked about the design principles behind Ragnarok Thor and other gods. Grassetti noted that Nordic gods tend to be less conspicuous than their Greek counterparts. However, they still had to be imposing, which is why Thor is much bigger than Kratos. Yet the Norse gods seem more like powerful barbarian warriors than divine beings in the modern sense.

God of War: Ragnarok is now available for PS4 and PS5.

Source: GameRant</ a