A word of warning: there’s going to be some spoilers for God of War: Ragnarok. If you haven’t beaten the game and want to avoid learning some plot points before the end, skip past this one.
A central component of God of War: Ragnarok is Atreus’s search to learn more about himself, his mother, and the people he came from. This search eventually leads Atreus to Loki where he learns his original name was Loki. Although Odin feigns hospitality, he never gives away information for free, and so directs Atreus to investigate a mysterious ancient mask. Atreus has a strange connection with the mask and is able to sense the locations of the three pieces it had been broken into, eventually finding them and assembling them for Odin. And then instead of wearing the mask to obtain omnipotent power (according to Odin), he tosses the mask in a portal–a portal that might lead to Earth.
As noted by Polygon, there’s nothing in Norse mythology about a magic mask granting great power, but there is a 1994 film starring Jim Carrey that has quite a few similarities with the mask portrayed in God of War: Ragnarok. Both are made of wood and both glow green under the correct circumstances. The obvious question: did 1994’s "The Mask" inspire a plot point in God of War: Ragnarok.
The answer: maybe. Ragnarok’s lead narrative directly told Polygon that the game "deliberately" leaves the origins of the mask up in the air. Contributing writer Anthony Burch, however, had more to say about The Mask possibly inspiring part of Ragnarok. "I beat out a lot of the Loki/Odin plot arc and had them focusing on some sort of MacGuffin that represented Odin and Loki’s relationship," said Burch. "Either myself or Matt Sophos… I’m almost sure it was Matt Sophos…suggested the MacGuffin should be a mask because Loki is searching for identity.
"I very specifically remember: Googling The Mask mask, sending it to Matt and also concept art, and at some point later on summarizing the plot of the game as ‘ssssssomebody stop Odin’."
Polygon makes a compelling argument that God of War: Ragnarok is actually the prequel to The Mask. The portal Atreus throws his mask through may have actually led to Earth where it was later found by Jim Carrey’s character Stanley Ipwick. Or it might just be a cliffhanger for God of War 3. Time will tell there.
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