Where was Thor filmed? Explore the deserts and volcanoes where Mjolnir fell. From New Mexico to Australia, discover real Asgard on Earth.
What happens when you talk smack about a Frost Giant, get your dad permanently grounded, and lose your magic hammer in the New Mexico desert? You get Thor (2011), a movie about a six-foot-something golden retriever of a god who has to learn that being worthy isn’t about biceps.
Sir Anthony Hopkins plays Odin, Natalie Portman is the mortal scientist who puts up with him, and Tom Hiddleston’s Loki steals every scene as the galaxy’s neediest adopted brother.
Chris Hemsworth has thrown Mjolnir (and later Stormbreaker) across nine MCU films, but the four solo adventures – Thor, The Dark World, Ragnarok, and Love and Thunder – took the crew everywhere from Iceland‘s volcanic ash fields to a fake New York City built on a Brisbane street corner.
Grab your umbrella or taser stick. Let’s visit the real locations where Asgard‘s favorite disaster tourist left his footprints.
Table of Contents
🔨 Thor Filming Locations
From New Mexico dust bowls to Australia’s streets, here’s where Mjolnir actually landed.
🌵 Where Was Thor 1 Filmed?
For the Norse god’s big-screen debut in Thor (2011), director Kenneth Branagh wanted a dusty, middle-of-nowhere vibe to contrast Asgard’s golden halls.
Instead of finding an existing town, Marvel built one from scratch. The fictional Puente Antiguo – complete with a diner, car dealership, and Mjolnir’s crash crater – rose from the dirt at Cerro Pelon Movie Ranch in Galisteo, New Mexico.
Production crews battled real desert dust storms that nearly blew away the plastic-sheeted S.H.I.E.L.D. research camp on a windy Santa Fe mesa. Meanwhile, Asgard’s gleaming interiors were filmed on soundstages at Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach, California.
And those weird tilted camera angles everywhere? That’s Branagh’s “Dutch angle” obsession – a direct nod to dynamic comic book panels. The result: a superhero origin that feels both cosmic and painfully dusty.
What was filmed here:
- Santa Fe mesa, New Mexico: S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Mjolnir research camp.
- Cerro Pelon Movie Ranch, New Mexico: Puente Antiguo town built from scratch.
- Raleigh Studios, California: Asgard’s golden throne room interiors.
🌋 Where Was Thor 2 Filmed?
To shake off the Shakespearean sheen in Thor: The Dark World (2013), director Alan Taylor dragged the cast to real volcanic ash fields.
The dark elf realm of Svartalfheim? That’s just Iceland’s black sand deserts and jagged lava plains – no CGI needed for that desolate, “we’re definitely going to die” look.
The spectacular waterfalls of Asgard were digitally modeled on Dettifoss, Europe’s most powerful waterfall (a VFX crew flew there just to map it).
For the final battle that bounces through portals, the crew erected massive green screens against the 300-year-old Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, London.
Natalie Portman couldn’t return for the post-credits kiss, so Chris Hemsworth’s real-life wife, Elsa Pataky, donned a brunette wig as Jane Foster’s stand-in. Talk about keeping it in the family.
What was filmed here:
- Iceland’s volcanic sand fields: Dark elf realm Svartalfheim.
- Dettifoss Waterfall, Iceland: Reference for Asgard’s digital waterfalls.
- Old Royal Naval College, London: Multi-dimensional final battle.
🏝️ Where Was Thor: Ragnarok Filmed?
For Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Taika Waititi brought the franchise home to Oceania, and suddenly everything got colorful and hilarious. That “New York City” street where Thor and Loki find Doctor Strange? Actually Brisbane’s Albert and Mary streets, dressed with yellow cabs and US mailboxes.
The giant junkyard planet Sakaar was built in an abandoned mining quarry outside Oxenford, Queensland. And the gladiator arena? That filled every inch of Village Roadshow Studios’ brand-new “Sound Stage 9” – a 40,000-square-foot beast they broke in for the film.
The lush outdoor Asgard scenes (before Hela smashed it) were filmed in Tamborine National Park’s rainforests. The iconic cliff scene where Thor watches Hela destroy Asgard? That was a practical set edge against a blue screen, but the surrounding landscape drew from New Zealand’s dramatic coastlines.
Waititi also confirmed he threw in Korg’s “piss off, ghost!” line after a real-life studio argument.
What was filmed here:
- Tamborine National Park: Lush outdoor Asgard landscapes.
- Albert & Mary streets, Brisbane: New York City street scenes.
- Oxenford Quarry, Queensland: Sakaar’s colorful scrapyard planet.
- Village Roadshow Studios, Gold Coast: Gladiator arena on Sound Stage 9.
🎥 Where Was Thor: Love and Thunder Filmed?
Filmed during global travel restrictions, Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) leaned hard into cutting-edge tech. Instead of green screens, actors performed inside “The Volume” at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney – a 360-degree LED screen that projected real-time digital environments (same tech as The Mandalorian).
The quaint seaside village of New Asgard? That was built on the rolling hills of Potts Hill, a Sydney suburb, with Nordic-style houses and a local pub.
And the hilarious “play-within-a-movie” featuring Matt Damon as a fake Loki and Melissa McCarthy as a fake Hela was filmed on an outdoor stage at Little Bay, a coastal suburb in southeastern Sydney.
Taika Waititi also hid a cameo in every frame – including his own voice as Korg, who narrates the film while being “rebuilt” after being shattered. The cliffs of New Asgard? Mostly digital, but the coastal shots used Pottsville’s picturesque shores in New South Wales.
What was filmed here:
- Little Bay, Sydney: Theatrical play with celebrity cameos.
- Potts Hill, Sydney: New Asgard seaside village.
- Pottsville, New South Wales: Coastal New Asgard backgrounds.
- Fox Studios Australia, Sydney: “The Volume” LED stage environments.
âť“Â Thor Movie FAQs
Because even Odin has more questions than Loki has schemes.
How many Thor movies are there?
Four standalone movies and five ensemble MCU films, totaling nine live-action appearances. Here are the Thor movies in order:
- Thor (2011): Gets banished, loses hammer, discovers diner coffee.
- The Avengers (2012): Fights Loki, gets Hulk-smashed, saves NYC.
- Thor: The Dark World (2013): Fights dark elves, loses his mother.
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015): Weird bath, creates Vision, then vanishes.
- Doctor Strange (2016): Drinks beer, gets pruned by Dr Strange.
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017): Loses Mjolnir, finds Korg, gains taser.
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018): Forges axe, aims wrong, loses.
- Avengers: Endgame (2019): Gets fat, aims correctly, wins.
- Thor: Love and Thunder (2022): Goes to therapy, teams up with an ex.
Where was Thor born in real life?
Chris Hemsworth was born in Melbourne, Australia. Thor, the character, is from Asgard (fictional realm), but the actor’s real-life birthplace explains why the franchise moved Down Under.
Where was Thor filmed in New Mexico?
The fictional town of Puente Antiguo was built at Cerro Pelon Movie Ranch in Galisteo. The S.H.I.E.L.D. crater scene was filmed on a windy mesa in Santa Fe.
Where was the Thor: Ragnarok cliff scene filmed?
The emotional cliff where Thor watches Asgard explode was a practical set edge against bluescreen, with inspiration from New Zealand’s coastlines – not an actual cliff you can visit.
Where was Thor during Civil War?
Off-world. In Captain America: Civil War, Thor was absent because he was in Asgard investigating visions of the Infinity Stones (explained in Age of Ultron’s end). Bruce Banner also missed it – he was stuck as Hulk on Sakaar.
Why did Natalie Portman’s stand-in kiss Chris Hemsworth?
She couldn’t return for The Dark World’s post-credits scene due to scheduling, so Hemsworth’s real wife Elsa Pataky wore a wig. The final kiss? Technically between Hemsworth and Pataky.
Where was Thor filmed in Scotland?
The coastal village of St Abbs in the Scottish Borders played New Asgard – Thor‘s new home in Avengers: Endgame, not in the solo Thor films. Chris Hemsworth called it a “really cool experience” filming there.
đźŽÂ Chris Hemsworth’s Thor Filming Stories
While filming the Thor movies, Chris Hemsworth ate enough chicken to start clucking. Here’s the godly chaos behind the biceps.
- Too jacked for his own armor: Hemsworth bulked up so fast for Thor (2011) that his costume didn’t fit three weeks later. The armor surrendered.
- The sweaty cape problem: The heavy cape took an hour to put on, so crew strapped racecar cooling vests under his leather. Nothing says “god of thunder” like armpit tubes.
- Loki’s snake betrayal was improv: Hemsworth ad-libbed “He turned into a snake and stabbed me” on set. Taika Waititi laughed. History was made.
- Crying over crowd cheers: He didn’t think his Wakanda entrance was special until fans sent him three minutes of a theater screaming. The God of Thunder got goosebumps from a bootleg recording. Awww!
📺 Where to Watch the Thor Movies
Ready to rewatch the thunder? Here’s where to find the films.
- Amazon Prime Video: Rent or buy the Thor movies individually.
- DVD/Blu-ray: Behind-the-scenes featurettes and commentary tracks.
- Other platforms: Disney+, Apple TV, Google Play/YouTube, Vudu/Fandango at Home.
Whether you’re in a dusty New Mexico desert, or walking Brisbane‘s streets, remember – Mjolnir is still waiting for someone worthy, Korg is probably still printing pamphlets, and somewhere in an Australian quarry, the Grandmaster is still looking for his next champion.
Disclaimer: This fan-created article is provided for entertainment purposes only. We don’t guarantee the accuracy of any of these facts and don’t recommend making important life decisions based on them. All referenced titles, names, and related intellectual property are the property of their respective owners, and no copyright infringement is intended.
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