Thor Will Be A Pivotal Character After Avengers: Infinity War

In the lead-up to Avengers: Infinity War – which is now quickly approaching its April 27th release date – there’s been much discussion surrounding Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, and understandably so. Given the events of Ragnarok, the God of Thunder has been left without an eye, his cape and, perhaps most important of all, his trusty hammer, Mjolnir.

You can thank Hela Goddess of Death for most of that, but make no mistake about it, the fan favorite Avenger will be back and better than ever in the upcoming event movie, with a huge arc in store for him. If you recall, a few months ago, co-director Joe Russo teased as much, telling us that Thor 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.”

Now, in a recent interview with ComicBook.com, Russo’s re-iterated that, telling the outlet that after Infinity War, the God of Thunder is going to be a pivotal character – not that he isn’t already, mind you.

“I think between Ragnarok and this film, I think Thor has a really, really compelling arc. I think he’s a pretty fascinating character, and I think he’s going to jump to the forefront of people’s mind, as a pivotal Marvel character, after Ragnarok and this.”

Continuing on, Russo spoke a bit about how much him and his brother enjoyed what Taika Waititi did with the hero in Ragnarok, saying:

“We grew up executing projects that were in a similar vein as Taika’s sensibility. Arrested Development, Community. We jive very well with Taika, and with the direction he’s taking that character in. I think that we always want and desire, as filmmakers, pathos as well, out of our characters.

We find that humor and pathos in combination create a more profound experience for you. I think that Taika has done that very well in Ragnarok. We now get to take Thor on a really compelling journey.”

Of course, not all Marvel heroes boast the rich history of Thor, who has headlined no less than three standalone movies since his introduction back in 2011. Indeed, thanks to Taika Waititi and his team, Marvel’s Norse god received a new lease of life (and $854 million at the box office) through Ragnarok, so it’s small wonder why the Russos have big things planned for him across Infinity War and, presumably, its currently untitled sequel.

To date, we unfortunately don’t know much about the God of Thunder’s arc in the film, but it has been confirmed he’ll be teaming up with Groot and Rocket for much of it, as the trio embark on a galactic quest to find him a new weapon. How that’ll end up tying into the battle with Thanos remains to be seen, but all will be revealed when Avengers: Infinity War arrives on April 27th.