Like any Marvel movie, you’ll come out Thor: Ragnarok with a series of questions about what happened, what you saw, and sometimes what you didn’t see. As ever, we’ve attempted to answer them.
Spoilers abound, of course, for Thor: Ragnarok. And not for the Infinity War footage, which we haven’t seen because it hasn’t been officially released and therefore constitutes definite spoilers. Please be aware – if you’re the sort of person who hoovers up spoilers – that not everyone wants to know something unless it’s been officially released.
Why could the Hulk talk?
In the comics, the Hulk has always had a fairly reasonable vocabulary, so this movie brings the movie version some way towards that. But really, the reason he’s able to talk is because he’s been the Hulk for two solid years. He learned, exactly the same way a two-year-old does. Though Hulk is definitely smarter than a two year old (please, Hulk, don’t smash us…)
What did Hela say was a fake in Odin’s treasure vault?
That’s an in-joke for those of us who remember as far back as Thor (2011) when, as an easter egg, the set designers included a replica of the Infinity Gauntlet in Odin’s treasure vault. As the arc of the MCU developed it became clear they were doing a version of that story, so this finally explains how Odin appeared to have one there. It was a fake-out to stop people looking for the real one.
Why did they unleash Surtur on Asgard?
The clue’s in the title of the film: Ragnarok. Surtur the fire demon is the only thing more powerful than (most) Asgardians, and in his rage he’s capable of killing even a god. Thor and Odin could stop him, but unleashed, at full strength? Even Hela had no chance. They sacrificed Asgard to stop Hela, allowing them to save its people.
Who’s the Grandmaster?
The Grandmaster is one of the Elders of the Universe, much like The Collector (hence the similar lip make-up). These guys are ageless and immortal (though not necessarily indestructible) and have come up with hobbies to kill time. The Collector collects stuff. The Grandmaster likes to orchestrate games – in this case, a ‘Contest of Champions’. There are more of these guys out there, but who can say if (or when) we’ll see them again?
What happened to the Tesseract now?
You could be forgiven for thinking that Surtur is now guarding the Tesseract – however, blink and you’ll miss it, but when Loki was in Odin’s treasure vault retrieving the crown of Surtur he stopped and took a moment to notice his old friend, the Tesseract, which he previously wielded on Earth. It’d be a safe bet that he snagged that infinity stone – the Space stone – on his way back out. That’s got to be an important point to note when it comes to Infinity War…
Where are the other stones?
So Loki probably has the Tesseract/Space Stone. The Nova Corps have the Orb/Power Stone. Doctor Strange has the Eye of Agamotto/Time Stone. The Collector, somewhere, has the Aether/Reality Stone. Vision has the gem from Loki’s Sceptre/Mind Stone. And somewhere out there, still as yet unexplained, is the sixth and final gem: The Soul Stone. It seems unlikely it’ll turn up in Black Panther, but hey, there’s still a chance we’ll see it there before Infinity War…
Is Thor’s eye stuck like that?!
Just ask Nick Fury. In a world where even death isn’t permanent, it’s impossible to say for sure whether Thor will get his eye back. But if it was that easy for Asgardians to replace an eye, they’d have probably done it for Odin back in the day. Chances are he’s not going to have much depth perception going forward.
What about Mjolnir? What’s Thor going to wield now?!
We all mjourn for Mjolnir, but as Odin said, the hammer wasn’t actually that special – it was just a way for Thor to focus his natural godly abilities. Now, he doesn’t need it. But that’s not to say he doesn’t need a weapon of some kind next time he shows up in Infinity War.
There are plenty of enchanted alternatives Thor might use: The Odinsword, the Thunderstrike mace and Stormbreaker (the Mjolnir-style hammer once given to Beta Ray Bill) would all be a good bet – but personally I’m hoping to see Jarnbjorn, the enchanted Axe which, in the comics, Thor used before he was gifted Mjolnir. It can pierce anything, even a Celestial’s armour, and that might be useful if the Celestials notice someone’s trying to collect the Infinity Stones.
Of course, maybe he’ll just magically recreate Mjolnir now he’s the true heir to Odin. Anything is possible.
Why did Thor and Jane break up?
It was a mutual dumping. And presumably Natalie Portman was let out of a contract she apparently had no interest in being in.
How did the Hulk get to Sakaar?
If you remember the log that played on the Quinjet, it shows the jet escaping Earth’s atmosphere and shooting into the cosmos. What happened next is debatable, but it’s a fair bet that it got picked up by salvagers or fell through a portal or something. Those things are everywhere.
An interesting question, though, is who shot him into space in the first place? In the comics, Hulk ended up on Sakaar because his friends – Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Stephen Strange, Black Bolt and Namor – unilaterally decided that they should ‘solve’ the problem of the Hulk by dumping him on a peaceful planet out on space. Unfortunately they missed and he ended up on Sakaar. Who’s to say Tony Stark didn’t try the same thing out in the MCU?
Where will Asgard be rebuilt?
Assuming Thor makes it back to Earth with the Asgardians, it’s pretty strongly hinted that the Asgardians will end up in Norway, where Odin shuffled off this mortal cliff. Of course, in the comics, the rebuilt Asgard – later known as the city of Asgardia – ends up hovering over Broxton, Oklahoma, before moving to the Moon, and then later to orbit around Saturn. I mean, why not?
So is Loki forgiven?
Ah, we can’t stay mad at him. After all, that’s his nature. Speaking of which, if you want to learn what happens when the God of Mischief realises he’s become predictable, I would recommend reading the Journey Into Mystery comics written by Kieron Gillen, which is essentially a long-form explanation of that story.
Where the actual hell is Sif?
Jaimie Alexander, who plays Sif, is strangely absent from this movie. She might be back in the future, or maybe Marvel had sour grapes that she was, at one point, in talks to be Wonder Woman and decided to write her out. Either that or she destroyed her chances by appearing on Agents Of SHIELD when Marvel Studios wants to do all it can to ignore the TV shows. There’s no real satisfactory answer here. Let’s wait for the deleted scenes?
On the plus side, at least she avoided the fate of the other Warriors Three. Ouch.
What happened to all that New York stuff we saw in the trailer?!
It’s interesting that the destruction of Mjolnir – which, in the trailer, happens in New York – ended up happening in the mystical island of reshoots (Norway?) in the finished movie. The visit to New York was surprisingly perfunctory in the final version of the film. For now we can only speculate as to why it got taken out, but personally, I can’t wait to hear the decision-making process on that!
As you can see, plenty in this film to chew over. Can’t wait to hear everyone’s Thorts.