FASHION OF THUNDER
THE HAIR
Thor has long denied Asgardian barbers one hell of a payday by refusing to get his Fabio-esque blond locks cut. No such luck on planet Sakaar. “There were many meetings about it,” says Rubeo of the radical redo. “But it works. Chris is a greatlooking guy and would look good bald.” Hemsworth, perhaps understandably, didn’t put the hammer down on the decision. “He was happy he didn’t have to wear the extensions.”
THE ARMS
“Chris is a great specimen,” says Rubeo of the tree trunks that Hemsworth calls arms, fully on display after being largely encased in chainmail in Thor: The Dark World. “The man works out so much. Those are his arms. And we thought [showing them] would make him heavier-looking.”
THE DISCS
There was one design element Rubeo didn’t want to jettison. “He’s never going to lose the discs,” she says of the big buttons he’s sported for decades in the comics and since 2011 on the screen. “These feel part of his Asgardian look,” she adds. “In the other movies he wore maybe six, but we gave him two to hold his cape, and one on the side of his belt.” Three is the magic number. Costume designer Mayes C. Rubeo gives the inside skinny on Thor’s new look
THE RED MARKINGS
The red stripes down Thor’s face and left-hand side aren’t a nod to his beverage of choice: these are markings put on him when he gets to Sakaar. “It’s a big part of the story,” teases Rubeo. Why red — has Thor been marked for death? “It’s nothing to do with blood,” she adds. “That’s the ink they have at that moment in the place he gets it.”
THE CUIRASS
Yes, it’s true: Thor’s got a great cuirass. Which, of course, is a piece of armour consisting of breastplate and backplate fastened together (thanks, Wikipedia). “It is more simple this time, and more faithful to the original designs of Jack Kirby,” says Rubeo. The cuirass, sculpted from real leather, is “a lot more agile” than previous iterations. “And we reduced a lot of the size of his cape. It’s not that humongous curtain rod!”