Thor is headed back to the big screen for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first-ever solo tetralogy, realized in July’s Thor: Love and Thunder.
The upcoming film may serve as Chris Hemsworth’s final appearance in the MCU, an idea that is stirring up interest — and anxiety — amongst fans. As the vast majority of conversations online turn to Thor and his decade-long tenure in the MCU, fans have questions about the goofy Asgardian ⏤ namely, his age.
Unlike many of the MCU greats, Thor hasn’t aged a day during his time in the franchise. While this certainly has some to do with Hemsworth’s clearly impeccable genes, it has far more to do with his character’s godly blood. As the God of Thunder, Thor simply doesn’t age at the same pace as the rest of us.
How old is Thor in the MCU?
The question of Thor’s age in the MCU was a longstanding mystery amongst fans for years. Until Avengers: Infinity War, that is, when the character finally revealed his age to a curious Rocket Racoon. During a heartfelt chat with one of his new besties, Thor revealed that he is 1,500 years old. This impressive age is perfectly suited to Thor’s godly status, but without another god to compare it against — like Heimdall or Odin — it’s hard to say how old this makes him in “god years.”
It’s important to note, at this point, that Marvel’s timeline sometimes makes absolutely no sense. The 1,500 ballpark aside, Thor’s admission in the Love and Thunder official trailer that it’s been “eight years, seven months, and six days” since he last saw Jane could help ground the timeline, but instead muddies things even more. We’ll dig into the details via each of his individual films, but be warned — things are about to get messy.
Thor (2011)
In his MCU debut, Thor is presented as a reckless, youthful god whose arrogance earns him a lengthy time-out on Earth. He’s clearly intended to be a relatively young hero, but things like age are generally ignored in favor of Chris Hemsworth’s abs, a decision that very few people are complaining about.
Based on Thor’s admission in Infinity War, we can generally calculate Thor’s age in his debut film as approximately 1,494 years old. We must base this age entirely off of the 1,500 ballpark, however, because a recent quote from Love and Thunder confuses the other timelines. Ignoring the disorder Love and Thunder is prepped to inject into Marvel’s already chaotic timeline, Thor entered the MCU at 1,494 years old via the first Thor film, a ripe young age for a self-discovering god.
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
A few years later, the world was graced with the rather lackluster Thor: The Dark World. The second Thor film is overall a thoroughly forgettable experience, but does cement the character’s timeline somewhat, as it is broadly pinned as the last time Jane and Thor were together — up until the events of Love and Thunder, of course. Dark World takes place two years after the first Thor film.
Based on Thor’s claims in Infinity War and completely ignoring his comments to Jane, for now, he was 1,496 years old during the events of Dark World. He appears slightly more aged and mature in his second solo flick, presenting a more serious and stern character that largely failed to connect with audiences.
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
A handful of years after Dark World was released, Thor was largely reimagined in Taika Waititi’s stellar third release, Thor: Ragnarok. By this point, a full four years have passed since Thor’s last solo flick, and two years have passed since his last on-screen appearance in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
We’re not going to dig into the potential differences in the passage of time between Earth and Asgard, because that would make a mess of all the math we’ve done so far. For now, we’ll assume that time passes the same in both realms, leaving Thor a full six years older than he was at his debut. By the time this flick comes to pass, Thor is a mature 1,500 years old, the same age he claims to be in Infinity War. This works out perfectly, as Infinity War takes place immediately after the events of Ragnarok.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
The big discussion that most of this theorizing is based around occurs midway through Infinity War. In this film, Thor identifies himself as 1,500 years old, a number that could very well be a ballpark but we are treating as definitive for the purposes of this article. It has been, as of Infinity War’s conclusion, six years since Thor debuted in his first solo film.
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Here’s where things get a bit hazy. The events in Endgame take place five years after Infinity War, as the franchise’s remaining heroes work to reverse the blip and bring back their lost loved ones. At this point, it has been a full 11 years in Thor’s timeline.
This puts him at 1,505 years old during the events of Endgame, a cozy five years older than he was when we last saw him. The last half decade has been harder on Thor than perhaps anyone else, polishing off a series of gut-wrenching losses with a final, devastating blow. His failure to stop Thanos resulted in the blip, and it’s clear he blames himself for it. The events of this film appear to take place over the course of a few months or so, leaving Thor at 1,505 years old when Endgame concludes.
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
And now we get into the real meat of it. Love and Thunder appears prepped to begin its story not long after Endgame left off, with Thor still saddled with the “dad bod” he developed through years of depression. It seems fair to assume, based on the notable work required to reobtain his “god bod,” that around a year passed for Thor between the events of Endgame and Love and Thunder.
With this in mind, it’s been around 12 years since Thor first stepped foot on Earth. 11 years if you ignore the amount of time it would realistically take anyone — even a god — to shed all that weight. Regardless, this timeline doesn’t quite align with Thor’s seemingly precise estimation of how long it’s been since he’s seen Jane.
As far as audiences are aware, Thor last laid eyes on Jane — ignoring the glimpse he caught during Endgame time traveling — in Dark World. The second Thor film takes place a full decade before the events of Love and Thunder, however — nine years if you ignore the estimated year between Endgame and Love and Thunder.
If we lean on the months that inevitably pass without explanation in MCU films, it is conceivable that it’s been approximately nine years since Thor saw Jane. This would require him to shed dozens of pounds in mere months, and would stretch some of the MCU’s timeline a bit thin, but generally it’s not impossible. Confusing? Yes. But impossible? Not quite.
Thor’s assertion that it’s been “eight years, seven months, and six days” since he last saw Jane would mean that only around three years passed between the events of Dark World and Infinity War, which doesn’t quite work within Marvel’s larger framework. That being said, it’s fair to assume that there are plenty of missed pieces between films, which almost certainly don’t take place exactly two or four years apart. Give or take a few months on either side, and the timeline actually works out pretty well.
So there we have it. As of Love and Thunder, Thor is between 1,505 and 1,506 years old, depending on how long filmmakers decide to dedicate to his workout regime. Either way, the years he’s spent in the MCU have changed the character immensely, from arrogant young god to defeated former hero to, finally, the powerful and (hopefully) contented man poised to emerge in Love and Thunder.
