Long before the arrival of Thor: Ragnarok in November, it was confirmed that Taika Waititi’s spectacular threequel would share some connective tissue with the forthcoming Avengers: Infinity War. And it all centers on the God of Thunder.
Following his calamitous dust-up with Hela, Goddess of Death, Thor winds up having a close encounter with Thanos, whose sole mission involves rounding up all six Infinity Stones – no matter who (or what!) stands in his path. Those of you who stuck around after the credits rolled on Ragnarok will know that that moment was foreshadowed, as Thanos’ ship begins to tailgate its Asgardian target. And just when we thought Loki and Thor had escaped the clutches of death.
But destiny clearly has other plans for Odin’s warring stepsons, given that Infinity War‘s inaugural teaser appeared to show Loki surrendering the Tesseract (Space Stone) to Thanos and his Black Order. Guess that means Tom Hiddleston’s anti-hero – the anti-hero everyone loves to hate – will be an accomplice of Thanos? It’s too soon to tell for sure, but this monumental meeting has a knock-on effect on Thor, who just so happens to cross paths with the Guardians of the Galaxy aboard the Milano. And that’s exactly where things will pick up with the character in Avengers 3.
Speaking in a recent interview, director Anthony Russo revealed where we’ll find the God of Thunder when things kick off in Infinity War.
“We’re picking up his story from the end of Thor: Ragnarok and at the end of that film as any fan would know his home planet of Asgard is destroyed, and so the character is in new territory so to speak, because his past has been torn away from him to a degree,” Russo said.
What’s perhaps more interesting, though, is that the director compares Thor’s arc in the pic to Cap’s from The Winter Soldier, teasing that Chris Hemsworth’s hero will be going through a “radical transformation.”
“I think it’s very similar to Captain America’s situation when we picked up his story in Winter Solider when Joe and I came on to do our first movie for Marvel,” Russo said. “Cap was in a place where we were very much catching him up in the modern world and seeing what that meant to him, and figuring out how you move a character that far forward and that far away from where they started back during the 40s.”
“So I think in Thor we have similar opportunities with that character in this movie is that he’s going through a radical transformation and he’s moving forward in a way where he can never go back, and that’s always a fun place to be with a character as a storyteller.”
So, big changes are in store for the God of Thunder then. Not that we expected anything less, mind you. After all, we already saw him go through some pretty significant changes in Ragnarok and it’s also expected that he’ll trade Mjolnir for Jarnbjorn in the film.
For those unfamiliar with the weapon, it’s the Wrecker of Worlds; a Dwarven-forged battle axe that first featured in Marvel’s comics back when Thor was deemed unworthy to wield his precious hammer. It’s sure to come in handy, too, because let’s face it, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will need all the help they can muster if they’re really to defeat Thanos and restore peace.
Dubbed Marvel’s “deadliest showdown,” Avengers: Infinity War is on course to hit theaters in May of 2018, and it may well bring the curtain down on Drax’s journey.