Thor: Ragnarok Director Plays Korg In The Movie

A major "Planet Hulk" character will appear in Thor: Ragnarok, and he'll be played by none other than the director himself.

As Entertainment Weekly reports, Taika Waititi provided a motion capture performance for Korg, an eight-foot tall rock creature from the Marvel comics. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) destroyed another member of his race at the beginning of Thor: The Dark World.

Waititi (Hunt for the Wilderpeople, What We Do in the Shadows) has appeared in his own films before, and he even had a part in Ryan Reynolds' Green Lantern flick (he played Tom Kalmaku). But he said he didn't originally plan on playing Korg in Ragnarok.

"Obviously, being made of rocks, we wanted somebody like the Rock to play him, but there wasn't enough chicken or salmon in Australia to sustain he and Chris," Waititi said. "I never thought I'd be playing the most lovable character in the film."

The big surprise here might be that Waititi described Korg as "lovable." The character is a Kronan, and another member of his race looked awfully menacing in The Dark World (the director said Korg is "kind of a relation to that guy"). But Waititi also implied that the upcoming sequel is all about breaking down preconceived notions.

"We wanted to change the idea of what a hulking guy made of rocks could be," he said. "He's huge and heavy, but with a light soul. We wanted to make him funny and a relatable entry point into this world. And Thor needs friends."

Thor will reportedly encounter Korg on Sakaar, where both are enslaved by Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) to fight in deadly gladiator duels. When Thor asks why Korg was taken prisoner, the giant replies: "I tried to start a revolution, but I didn't bring enough pamphlets."

The film will also include Miek, an insectoid creature also featured in the "Planet Hulk" storyline. But we've known about that for a while. And the first teaser trailer confirmed that Grandmaster will force Thor to battle his pal "from work," the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo).

Thor: Ragnarok will smash into theaters on Nov. 3. Check out why it'll be better than you think.