‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Casts Sam Neill: What Character Will The ‘Jurassic Park’ Star Play?

Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok has cast Sam Neill in what has only been described as a “secret role,” according to an interview conducted by Short List. This adds to Thor: Ragnarok‘s already star-studded and diverse cast (which includes Neill’s fellow Jurassic Park cast mate Jeff Goldblum) and, naturally, leads to the question of who exactly Neill will be playing, as it relates to the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe for the uninitiated) and how that role will affect the story on a grand scheme?

While it’s just as likely Neill will be playing a small bit role with no significant impact on Ragnarok or its narrative, where’s the fun in that kind of speculation? While it’s known that Cate Blanchett’s Hela will be the primary antagonist, this doesn’t rule out the possibility for Neill to embrace his inner bad guy and debut some other well-known (or potentially obscure) Thor villain.

Perhaps even The Crusader, a human villain obsessed with enforcing God’s will (the Biblical one) and wiping out Thor, who he perceives as a false god. This would be right up Neill’s alley and could even potentially set him up as the main villain for Thor 4. The possibilities are nearly endless, and there’s also plenty of good guys left in the Thor stable for Neill to portray. Ruling out any possibility would be premature at best.

Neill is best known, of course, as Doctor Alan Grant in the mega blockbuster Jurassic Park, but the actor has had many diverse roles in films ranging from the independently produced to high budget productions. Previous roles that could easily convince producers to cast Neill in a villainous part include the Doctor William Weir (Neill, apparently, has an affinity for doctor parts) in Event Horizon and even, to a lesser extent, vampire Charles Bromley in Daybreakers.

Thor: Ragnarok‘s director Taika Waititi has previously worked with Neill on the critically acclaimed New Zealand film Hunt for the Wilderpeople, so there’s definitely a familiarity between the two. Waititi’s history of critical acclaim for his independent films also seem to point to Marvel attempt at making the third entry in the Thor films its most critically accomplished yet (after the somewhat lukewarm response to Thor: The Dark World).

Thor: Ragnarok is the seventeenth installment in the MCU, and will seemingly focus on Thor’s battle with Hela, which presumably (based on the title) could lead to Norse mythology’s version of the apocalypse. How this will affect and/or lead into the next Avengers film is currently unclear, but the president of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige has made it clear that ”[Thor: Ragnarok] is a very important movie for us in Phase 3.”

Marvel Studios uses the phase system to separate their story arcs, usually culminating a phase with an Avengers film. This system is expected to at least be in place all the way through Avengers: Infinity War and its as-of-yet untitled sequel (it was previously named Infinity War Part II), and presumably even after that. The system has worked well for Marvel, allowing them to include threads of the main story in all of their more standalone films, building anticipation for the culmination of those storylines.

Thor: Ragnarok brings back cast members Chris Hemsworth as the titular character, Tom Hiddleston as trickster and Thor’s adopted brother, Loki, and Anthony Hopkins as their father, Odin, with whom both have a strained relationship with. Also joining the cast this time around is Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk. It’s again unclear how much screen time Ruffalo will have, but we can safely assume that there will be a big battle between Hulk and Thor at some point.

Thor: Ragnarok (lightning) bolts into theaters November 3, 2017.

[Featured Image by Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP Images]