Film

Thor: Ragnarok

Taika Waititi took the moodiest Avenger and rebuilt him from scratch: neon colours, wisecracks, a killer Jeff Goldblum, and a genuine sense that anything could happen next. It's a buddy comedy wearing an apocalypse's clothes, gleefully self-aware without curdling into smugness. For anyone who likes their superhero spectacle loose, funny, and unafraid to look ridiculous.

TMDb rating7.6

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Guardians of the Galaxy2014

The same trick, done first: a jukebox soundtrack, a mismatched crew, and cosmic stakes treated with a shrug and a grin. If Ragnarok's tone hooked you, this is where that recipe was proven.

But Its earnestness under the jokes is more sincere than Ragnarok's, which can feel a touch soppier by comparison.

Guardians of the Galaxy poster

What We Do in the Shadows2014

Taika Waititi's own vampire mockumentary, low-budget and gloriously silly, shows exactly where Ragnarok's specific comic rhythm and deadpan absurdity came from.

But Tiny scale and mockumentary format make it feel worlds away from a Marvel budget spectacle.

What We Do in the Shadows poster

Deadpool2016

Another superhero movie that decided the genre needed puncturing rather than reverence, with a lead who never stops talking and never stops being fun about it.

But Considerably raunchier and more violent — this is not the family-friendly cousin Ragnarok is.

Deadpool poster

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Northman2022

Both draw directly from Norse myth and the idea of Ragnarok itself, but where Waititi plays the apocalypse for laughs, this plays it as blood-soaked tragedy.

The same Norse mythology, told completely straight: brutal, hallucinatory, humourless, and gorgeous. It's the version of this world with the jokes surgically removed.

But Slow, punishing, and grim — nothing about it wants to entertain you the way Ragnarok does.

The Northman poster
More like this (8)

The Fifth Element1997

A totally unhinged, candy-coloured space epic that treats its own absurdity as a feature. Same appetite for maximalist design and comic chaos, different decade.

But Its plotting is looser and stranger; some find the whole thing more baffling than charming.

The Fifth Element poster

Men in Black1997

Buddy comedy plus alien apocalypse plus a straight man and a wildcard — the chemistry engine that powers Ragnarok's best scenes, in a smaller, tighter package.

But Lower stakes and a more grounded, Earthbound setting than Ragnarok's cosmic sprawl.

Men in Black poster

Ghostbusters1984

The blueprint for treating world-ending threats as material for jokes rather than dread, delivered by actors who look like they're having the time of their lives.

But Special effects and pacing feel dated next to Ragnarok's slick, hyperactive visuals.

Ghostbusters poster

Big Trouble in Little China1986

John Carpenter's cult adventure-comedy has that same swagger — a hero who's slightly out of his depth, sorcery played for laughs, chaos handled with a smirk.

But Cheesier effects and a much smaller budget than Ragnarok's Marvel polish.

Big Trouble in Little China poster

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle2017

Same year, same appetite for comic-adventure spectacle with a starry cast clearly enjoying themselves and a game-logic universe that lets anything happen.

But Broader, more family-aimed humour with less of Ragnarok's specific deadpan wit.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle poster

Flash Gordon1980

Camp space opera at full, glorious volume — the direct spiritual ancestor of Ragnarok's neon aesthetic and gleeful embrace of its own silliness.

But Deliberately cheesy in a way that hasn't aged into so much charm for everyone.

Flash Gordon poster

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension1984no page yet

Ragnarok's tonal DNA — deadpan absurdity colliding with genuine stakes — traces straight back to this kind of gleeful genre-blending pulp comedy.

A gloriously deranged cult sci-fi comedy about a rock-star scientist-adventurer, packed with the same anarchic, throw-everything-at-the-wall energy Waititi clearly studied.

But Cult-classic weirdness with rough production values; it's an acquired taste even by 80s standards.

Cowboy Bebop1998

Same tonal whiplash — comedy and cosmic loss sitting side by side — but in a different medium and register, proving the trick works without a superhero budget at all.

An anime about a crew of misfit bounty hunters drifting through space, swinging effortlessly between slapstick and real heartbreak, episode to episode.

But Animated, subtitled (in the original), and considerably more melancholic in its back half than Ragnarok ever gets.

Cowboy Bebop poster

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