'Thor: Ragnarok' wouldn't be half as cool without Led Zeppelin

If you've already seen Thor: Ragnarok, you've probably had Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song stuck in your head since you exited the cinema.

The partnership of the third Thor instalment and the 1970s rock icons was laid bare a few months ago when Marvel released a trailer prominently featuring the track. As we've now seen, it plays a prominent part in the film, too, included in not one, but two epic fight sequences.

Director Taika Waititi doesn't come from a typical action-movie background. A bit like Guardians of the Galaxy's James Gunn and Captain America's Russo brothers, Waititi's career is rooted in comedy and indie films (Flight of the Conchords, What We Do in the Shadows, Hunt for the Wilderpeople). If anything, he's the most quirky and uniquely talented director that Marvel have hired so far.

It was partly through his use of Immigrant Song that he secured the Thor job in the first place, having put together a demo reel to showcase what he had in mind for the film.

"I put Immigrant Song over the top of it and then played it for them," Waititi told Den of Geek.

"They were like: 'Oh, that's really cool. That's a cool song. What's that?' I was like: [deadpan] 'It's Immigrant Song, Led Zeppelin, one of the most famous songs of all time'."

The song, which was included on their third studio album, Led Zeppelin III, in 1970, features lyrics inspired by Norse mythology.

To set Robert Plant's otherworldly howl to a fight sequence between Norse gods makes perfect sense. But Led Zeppelin have a mixed history when it comes to licensing their work.

For a long time it was notoriously difficult to get permission to use their songs.

When this particular track was used in 2003's School of Rock, Jack Black had to beg for it after director Richard Linklater failed to persuade them.

Black won them over by filming himself singing in front of a huge crowd, pleading for their permission. Often filmmakers include cover versions. Trent Reznor's cover for The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo was one example.

In recent years, however, the band has relaxed and Zeppelin songs have, unsurprisingly, begun to pop up all over, although to do so will, rumour has it, take a sufficient chunk out of a film's budget.

WATCH | The trailer for Thor: Ragnarok

Though the music was already written, featuring a menacing staccato riff from Jimmy Page while the band toured Iceland, the lyrics were reworked with a Norse war cry and Viking-inspired imagery.

"We weren't being pompous," Plant told journalist Chris Welch for his book, Led Zeppelin: Dazed Confused.

"We did come from the land of the ice and snow. We were guests of the Icelandic government. Immigrant Song was about that trip." - The Daily Telegraph

• This article was originally published in The Times.