TOWER OF POWER HITS THE COAST
VOLSTAGG has landed on the Gold Coast and he’s ready to Ragnarok!
Towering Irish actor Ray Stevenson is in town to reprise his role as Volstagg in the Marvel Universe blockbuster Thor: Ragnarok, now filming at Village Roadshow Studios.
Modelled on Shakespeare’s Falstaff in character and name, Asgardian adventurer Volstagg appeared in Thor and its sequel Thor: The Dark World.
Stevenson, 52, showed off a permanent souvenir of his visit to the Coast, posing for a photo with Dai Tattoo in Punktured, in Surfers Paradise, after the Japanese artist inked a line design on the inside of his forearm.
Renowned for his role as Blackbeard in US TV’s Treasure Island prequel Black Sails and as Titus Pullo in the BBC/HBO series Rome, Stevenson has portrayed two Marvel Comics characters – Thor’s Volstagg and Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, in Punisher: War Zone and The Super Hero Squad Show.
While Stevenson was transforming himself into the battlefield veteran Volstagg on set at the Oxenford lot, his Thor: Ragnarok costar Mark Ruffalo hit the road for a family holiday after he finished filming his scenes as The Hulk.
Ruffalo posted pictures on Instagram of the group enjoying time out on Lizard Island and Tamborine Mountain and fans saw the family dining at Cairns restaurant Ochre.
The fan world was also abuzz after the Bulletin photographed The Avengers’ state-of-the-art transporter, the Quinjet, under construction on the Gold Coast set of Thor: Ragnarok.
The Quinjet was last seen flying off into the bifrost at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron after being commandeered by Ruffalo’s Hulk. It’s debut in the Thor franchise will most likely explain how Thor (Chris Hemsworth) finds Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok.
The jet’s appearance and a cryptic Instagram post by director Taika Waititi have also fuelled speculation Josh Brolin’s villainous character Thanos will also appear in Thor: Ragnarok.
Brolin enjoys a rare distinction in Hollywood thanks to his appearances in four different film franchises based on four different comic book publications.
In addition to playing Marvel Comics’ Thanos, Brolin played a young Agent K in Malibu/Marvel Comics movie Men in Black 3, starred in DC Comics’ Jonah Hex and was Dwight McCarthy in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.