When Taika Waititi got to direct Thor: Ragnarok, there were several very important changes to the MCU storyline as a whole, to the point where the story in the film and the one in Marvel Comics aren’t really all that similar. Thor: Ragnarok in the comics is a darker journey into the destruction of the Norse pantheon in a way more similar to the myths than the MCU ever gets, while the MCU version is about Thor’s self-image as a hero and a cosmic journey to finding out what really matters.

The MCU version is much lighter in tone and narrative than Thor: Ragnarok in the comics. While the Thor movie is an excellent staple of the MCU, introducing a revitalized Thor who was much more of a well-rounded and fun character, there are some things lost in the changes to the comic book storyline. While there are a bunch of small differences, here are the biggest changes to the Thor: Ragnarok storyline when adapted to the big screen.

5 The Dark Tone of the Comics

Thor Ragnarok Comic
Via Marvel Comics

While dark things happen in the MCU's Thor: Ragnarok, the tone is overall very light and fun. Though both the comic and the movie kill off a lot of characters, Ragnarok has a far bleaker story and tone about the cycles of apocalypse. MCU's Ragnarok is much more hopeful and upbeat, with a lot more jokes and some of the funniest moments of the MCU to date. The contrast can be seen immediately. In the first moments of the movie, there's a lighthearted sequence where Thor beats Surtur and finds Loki, but in the comics, Loki instead kicks off Ragnarok by launching an assault on his brother that breaks his hammer, kills Enchantress, and cuts off Sif's arm.

Another thing indicative of the tone is the different ways the two use the wider Marvel universe. In the Taika Waititi movie, Hulks arrival in the plot is a moment for comedy, but he also plays a key role in saving the day. In the comics, Captain America and Iron Man show up for a bit to help, but then Thor sends them back to Midgard. He knows that Ragnarok is the end-times, and does not want to see his friends die and leave earth undefended. There is a definitive sense in the comic book storyline of finality and death that isn't there in the MCU movie. This is for the better in some regards, as the comic can be a very bleak read, but there is something lost when Waititi made the Ragnarok storyline end on such a positive note compared to the comics. In the end, if you like darker and bleaker stories, you may want to give the comics a read, but if you don't then the movie may be more appealing.

Related: Taika Waititi Explains Why Thor: Love and Thunder Was Harder to Make Than Thor: Ragnarok

4 The Main Villains are Different

Thor Ragnarok Loki
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures 

In MCU's Ragnarok, Thor fights Hela, played by Cate Blanchett. Hela represents the lost third child of Odin, whom he sealed away for being too powerful and violent. When Odin dies, Hela is summoned back into the world and seeks to overthrow and rule Asgard. Blanchett's performance was noted as one of the best villain performances in the MCU before Infinity War happened and Thanos became the arch villain of the MCU. In the comic storyline, Loki is initially the villain, but then it's revealed that The Ones Who Sit in Shadow have been orchestrating the entirety of Ragnarok. These strange elder gods are something like the Gods of the Gods, sitting in a place above Asgard and watching it go through endless cycles of death and rebirth. Thor only ends up becoming aware of them by sacrificing his eyes and dying, nearly being lost in the afterlife in the process.

MCU's Ragnarok is a much more conventional superhero story about defeating a villain and saving the day, while the bleak comic Ragnarok is about dismantling an endless cycle of sacrifice and rebirth. In the comics, none of the villains have as large a presence as Hela does in the movie, rather the main conflict ends up being Thor having to learn about the truth of the world and deciding what to do about it. It takes Thor, who is more of a warrior, and forces him to think and consider.

3 Different Arcs for the Protagonist

Thor Drinking from the Well of Knowledge
Via Marvel Comics

Thor, in both the movie and the comics, has a character arc to undergo, and in some ways, they are very similar, but, also, in many ways they could not be more different. The movie is about Thor realizing that the way to save his people is to destroy the source of Hela's power, which is Asgard itself, tearing down the glittering city plundered from the wealth of other peoples in order to stop Hela from invading other realms. There is a bit of an anti-colonialist message in there that accompanies Thor's journey to finding out what's really important. He valued the hammer rather than his own inborn powers as an Asgardian god of Lightning. However, the similarity between the two is that, in the end, the protagonist causes Ragnarok intentionally.

In the case of the comic, it's a little more complicated than Thor simply destroying Asgard, but that is effectively what ends up happening. Thor discovers that Ragnarok has happened time and time again, merely with the memories of the gods erased after each rebirth. This has all been manipulated by The Ones Who Sit in Shadow, who watch the endless cycle of Ragnarok. Believing that the endless Ragnaroks have rendered the lives of Asgard meaningless, Thor seeks to cause Ragnarok in order to put an end to the cycle once and for all.

Related: Explained: Here's Why Natalie Portman Wasn't in Thor: Ragnarok

2 A Cosmic Journey vs a Mythological One

Thor Ragnarok Ending
Via Marvel Comics

Both of these stories are journeys to understanding. In the MCU, it's about discovering the worth of people over symbols or objects, while in the comics, it's a mystical understanding of the place of Asgard in the Marvel universe as a whole. This extends to the plot itself. In the MCU, Thor goes to Sakaar and discovers Valkyre. Finding an Asgardian in the strange world of Sakaar, far away from the golden halls of Asgard, reinforces the message of the movie. The cosmic journey is about Thor being taken away from Asgard and learning to be a leader by having more experience with the strange world he finds himself in. He becomes wiser and more level-headed, ultimately able to work out how to beat Hela, much like his father Odin.

The comic is also about Thor following the path of Odin, though more in a mystical sense. Thor in the Ragnarok comic is going through a journey to understand his own mythos and gain context. Both stories are about Thor being outside his element, learning to be something more than just an honorable warrior, and instead being forced to learn how to be more wise and thoughtful. The comic storyline has a more philosophical bend than the movie, but they're both about Thor learning to be wiser.

1 The Hulk

The Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok
Marvel Studios
Disney

The Hulk's presence in Thor: Ragnarok is one of those anomalies that no one likely saw coming before it was revealed. Of course, Sakaar is the world from the Hulk's Planet Hulk comics arc, which sees him adapt to life on an alien planet after he was sent there by The Illuminati on Earth who wanted to contain his threat. However, in Thor: Ragnarok, the Hulk isn't really playing out his storyline from Planet Hulk or World War Hulk. Sakaar is also very dissimilar from the comics, as in the comics, Sakaar has a lot of development as a planet and a culture, but in the MCU, it's mostly a junkyard planet where cosmic detritus is collected. It's also ruled by the Grandmaster, another Marvel character who doesn't necessarily have anything to do with Thor or the Hulk. It is possible the MCU may circle back to the World War Hulk and Planet Hulk arcs on Sakaar, per Games Radar, but until then, Hulk's presence in Thor: Ragnarok and Sakaar in the MCU exist mostly to contribute to Thor's overall story and development.