The first look at Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok, thanks to that recent trailer, should tell you all you need to know about the excitement mounting for its debut later this year. But Marvel took things a step further yesterday when they invited a group of journalists to tour Marvel Studios, open house-style. That peek behind the curtain revealed a lot of tantalizing things, and among them, confirmation of a pair of alien characters in the upcoming third outing for Thor. And one of them will be played by Waititi himself.

Thor: Ragnarok opens November 3rd and stars Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban with Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Hopkins. Waititi directs from a script by Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost and Stephany Folsom and Eric Pearson, but he'll also get a starring role, as well.

Here’s the official synopsis for Thor: Ragnarok:

In Marvel Studios’ “Thor: Ragnarok,” Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok—the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization—at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger—the Incredible Hulk! “Thor: Ragnarok” thunders into U.S. theaters on November 3, 2017.

For more on Thor: Ragnarok, click on the links below to take a look at our most recent write-ups; and check out the new character reveals after the jump.

• We’ve Seen Concept Art of Brie Larson as Captain Marvel
• ‘Thor: Ragnarok’: Over 36 Images from That Glorious Teaser Trailer
• ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Trailer Unleashes the God of Thunder into the Arena
• So What’s Up with Jane and Thor in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’?
• Taika Waititi Says ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Is Taking Some Cues from ‘Big Trouble in Little China’

 

 

Korg the Kronan

As teased by Waititi a while back and only confirmed yesterday during the event, Thor: Ragnarok will feature the sentient Kronan rock creature known as Korg:

His name is Korg, like the piano, and he’s a Kronan! I mean, I know you’ve seen (Thor) Dark World. At the beginning of Dark World, there’s a Kronan there. This is kind of a relation to that guy. He’s not as tall. He’s sort of about eight feet tall, and he’s um, made of rocks. He’s one of the creatures featured in the Planet Hulk storyline along with another character called Miek who is also in the film, so we’re borrowing those from their storyline and putting them in the arena, the Contest of Champions, that the Grandmaster, Jeff Goldblum runs on the planet Sakaar, which the Hulk is the main champion.

 

He’s one of the few characters to befriend Thor on the planet. He helps him out. Sort of explains how things go and becomes an ally to Thor.

So now that we know what Korg is up to, it might also interest you to know that Waititi himself donned the motion-capture suit and provided the voice for the alien fighter:

We wanted to change the idea of an obvious choice of how the character would sound,” Waititi said. “Even though he’s huge and heavy, he has a very light soul. He’s very lovable, and has a good amount of humor.

But he can still fight.

Being so big, he’s a slugger. He’s not very graceful. He hits hard.

Check out Waititi's tease of Korg from a few months back:

Miek

Another alien character teased by Waititi was:

Miek. He’s from the comics as well. He’s sort of like an insectoid. He sort of has a cool exoskeleton with knife hands. He’s basically sort of a larva shaped thing. He controls the exoskeleton with these controls and stuff. He’s way more graceful than Korg. Much more efficient and Miek does not talk.

Created by Greg Pak and Carlo Pagulayan--who also created Korg and retconned his existence based on Thor's first appearance in "Journey into Mystery" #83 (1963)--and first appearing in Marvel Comics in 2006's "Planet Hulk" storyline, Miek had quite the part to play in events following Hulk's gladiatorial battles, but don't expect that to be the focus of Thor: Ragnarok. But perhaps, in the future ...