[UPDATE: Posted this Fan Fic awhile ago but I just recently updated the article with pictures]
Since Sif made her television debut in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I couldn’t help but wonder what the plot to the third installment of Thor franchise might be about. As such, I took the liberty and wrote a short little fan fiction detailing the plot of what I perceive could work as a third Thor film. Then after that, I casted the new characters that would appear. So without further ado…
Thor: Ragnarok
A voice narrates the life cycle of the Asgardians, which culminates and ends in the titanic and bloody battle known as Ragnarok during which the Nine Realms are destined to be burned to ashes by a rain of fire from the legendary Midgard Serpent: Jörmungandr. And from the ashes of the destruction left in its wake, the Nine Realms shall be reborn once more. As the narration ends, it is revealed that the narrator of the Norse mythology was Hela, Norse Goddess of Death. She was recounting the Norse God’s life cycle to Amora the Enchantress. When asked why she is so interested in the mythology, especially since Ragnarok isn’t fated to happen for another several millennial, Amora alludes only to her master and his interest in the fated event.
A film cuts to Midgard—Earth—where Thor fighting Ulik, the Rock Troll who has inadvertedly found himself on Midgard in the aftermath of the Convergence. After subduing Ulik and sending him back via the Heimdall and the Bifrost Bridge, Thor reunites with Jane Foster and Erik Selvig, who are both now under the employ of S.H.I.E.L.D. to find out as much about the Nine Realms as possible after the events of
The Avengers and
Thor: The Dark World. In this way, they can discover the best way to fight these creatures that are significantly bigger and stronger than humans. Thor is not terribly please with this though.
Somewhere in the Nine Realms Odin, revealed to be Loki, approaches the real Odin weakened and imprisoned. Loki gloats about how Odin’s most loyal followers cannot tell the difference between Loki-Odin and the real Odin, allowing him to continue with his schemes. Despite Odin’s plea for his son to stop his madness, he is rebuked. A little while later, Loki returns to Asgard’s throne room. While pondering alone, he is joined by his childhood friend, Amora. It is apparent that she is the only person who knows Odin is really Loki and the two have been scheming together for awhile. The pair flirt while discussing their respective displeasure with the Asgardians as well as their desire to see about their downfall. Loki reaffirms his desire to initiate a pre-mature Ragnarok to destroy the Asgardians. Amora states that she has found the location of the Midgard Serpent and is soon sent out to awaken it by Loki.
As Loki and Amora as discussing their plans in the throne room, Hogun happens upon them secretly and discovers Loki masquerading as Odin. As he quietly leaves to inform his friend, he is intercepted by Amora’s bodyguard, Skurge the Executioner. The two fight a duel with Skurge eventually overpowering Hogun and killing the Vanir, leaving his body in the street to be discovered later by civilians. Thor returns from Earth to attend the funeral of Hogun in Vanaheim along with Sif, Fandral, and Volstagg. To their surprise, Balder, a close childhood friend of the Warrior Three and cousin to Thor, returns from Alfheim, where he has been residing while under tutelage, to attend the funeral as well. The group of friends promises to find whoever is responsible and avenge Hogun’s death. His death is troubling as it must’ve taken an incredibly skilled warrior to defeat him in battle.
After Hogun’s funeral, Balder, who has always loved her despite the fact that she only ever had eyes for Thor, attempts to reconnect with Sif. Despite an intimate moment, Sif breaks it off uncomfortably and leaves. Thor, meanwhile, goes to see Heimdall and ask if he saw anything pertaining to Hogun’s death. Heimdall feels guilty because he did not; he was distracted. He tells Thor that he saw the always-troublesome Enchantress appear on Earth likely through one of Loki’s secret passageways. Knowing she is up to no good and probably has something to do with Hogun’s death, Thor returns to Earth. He finds Amora at the peak of Galdhøpiggen, Norway’s tallest mountain. He confronts her about Hogun’s death to which Amora only says it is part of a grander plan. When Thor demands Amora returns to Asgard with him, she refuses and a fight ensue. In the fight, Amora manipulates by taunting him of Hogun’s death and uses her magic to trigger a lightning strike from Thor’s hammer. Thor suspects nothing and assumes he simply lost control of his anger. As he moves to apprehend a subdued Amora, she suddenly kisses him and—not for the first time—captures him under her spell.
Sif, who followed Thor to Earth, finds to her dismay Thor utterly enthralled to the Enchantress. When she attempts to free Thor by attacking Amora, Thor defends her. It is clearly apparent that Sif is outmatched but Amora and Thor flee when Fandral and Volstagg arrive to help Sif, sent by Heimdall. Balder meanwhile, continues investigating Hogun’s death and arrives at the location of his friend’s murder. He deduces that someone had been watching Hogun and Skurge’s fight yet did nothing. Further clues reveals it may have been Odin but knowing that the All-Father would not stand by while a loyal warrior was cut down undeservingly, begins to suspect Odin is not Odin.
Sif, Fandral, and Volstagg arrive back on Asgard to seek out Odin, believing him able to free Thor from Amora’s enchantment only to be intercepted by Skurge the Executioner. He admits to killing Hogun and angers Fandral and Volstagg by insulting Hogun’s fighting prowess. The two faces off against Skurge as Sif goes to find Odin. Upon arriving at the Throne room and confronting Odin, she is surprise to find that he is unwilling to help. However, Balder arrives and through a particular tick of Loki’s deduces Odin is not Odin and is in fact the Loki—thought to be dead. Loki knows he is far too smart to leave traces of his presence at Hogun’s death and correctly deduces that Amora has betrayed him. Sif and Balder attack Loki who manages to escape without revealing where the real Odin is.
Fandral and Volstagg reunite with Balder and Sif, who is beginning to see Balder in a different light, having defeated Skurge and imprisoned him. The four of them goes to Heimdall to see if he knows where Odin might be kept. He directs the four of them to Hela in Hel. Confronted by Fandral, Volstagg, Balder, and Sif, Hela reveals she had indeed been keeping Odin imprison. She also tells the group of her conversation with Amora. The four of them are appalled to hear that Loki and Amora plan to unleash Ragnarok and goes to free Odin. They find him weak but alive. The four of them wants to punish Hela for keeping the All-Father imprisoned but Odin stops them and reveals to them Hela’s history.
She is actually a relic of the last life cycle prior to the previous Ragnarok and thus is actually older than all other Asgardians including Odin. She kept Odin imprisoned only as a favor to Loki, her father from the previous life cycle, but has treated Odin well in his imprisonment. Hela does not and will not take sides in this internal struggle between Asgardian. She is not a threat and in fact may prove more friend than foe in the future. When the Sif ask Odin if he can release Thor from Amora’s enchantment he states that he is far too weak to do so, especially if he had to venture out to Midgard. Unsure of what to do next, Sif suggest Jane Foster, the love of Thor’s life may be able to break the spell.
Sif and Balder arrives at Jane Foster’s home (Volstagg and Fandral remains in Asgard to protect Odin) and fills her in on the situation. Together, they lure Thor and Amora to them and are finally able to break the spell. With Thor freed from her enchantment, Amora concedes defeat.
However, as this is happening, the mountain cap of Galdhøpiggen begins to break. Unbeknownst to them (except Amora as this was her plan) Thor’s lightning strike in his fight against Amora jolted awake the Midgard Serpent, living within the mountain, from his eternal slumber and broke the shell that is the mountain, officially ushering in Ragnarok. Massive, dark storm clouds begin forming over Galdhøpiggen, soon spreading so large it enveloped half the world and opens a portal to the rest of the Nine Realms; this is the merging where the Nine Realms become one before it is all destroyed and reborn. The awakening of the Midgard Serpent and the beginning of Ragnarok is immediately sensed by all Asgardian. Amora uses this distraction to disappear. Balder and Sif quickly fills in Thor on what is happening and the fact that Loki alive and behind all this. It is revealed to Thor that his destiny is to fight and kill the Midgard Serpent but to die afterward regardless and be reborn.
Jane asks if Thor being reborn means he will not remember her, Sif says ‘Yes’. Thor and Jane share a tearful goodbye and one last kiss before Thor flies off to confront the Midgard Serpent. Sif and Balder meanwhile return to Asgard as Odin readies for war that follows. To the Asgardian’s surprise, it is not their fated enemy, the Frost Giant, that attacks Asgard but instead the Fire Demons of Muspelheim led by Surtur, the true master of Amora. He seeks to destroy the Midgard Serpent himself and harness its power to rule over the entirety of the Nine Realm for the rest of eternity.
Thor begins his titanic fight with the Midgard Serpent only to find that he can do very little to stop it from ravaging Scandinavia. With no other option to save Jane, Thor lures the Midgard Serpent through the portal and into Asgard. To his dismay, Asgard is under siege from Surtur which effectively prevents its citizen from evacuating and escaping the wrath of Jörmungandr. As the Midgard Serpent arrives in Asgard, Surtur joins the fight against it and a three-way battle is formed. Not soon after, Loki magically appears, seeking to stop Surtur from interfering with his plans. In a mid-battle confession to Thor, Loki expresses remorse for his actions but believes he has done too much wrong to be righted. He initiated Ragnarok so that the Nine Realms can be destroyed and reborn with no knowledge of Loki’s past wrongdoing. He and Thor can start over and go back to the way things were before.
Despite Loki’s action, Thor and Loki team up to fight Surtur and the Midgard Serpent in the skies above Asgard. Meanwhile, Asgard’s defense fails against the Fire Demons who breaks in and begin storming through the city. In the melee, Asgard’s prison is weakened and Skurge escapes only to be intercepted by Volstagg and Fandral. Expressing remorse for blindly following Amora, Skurge asks Volstagg and Fandral to allow him to help. After a brief hesitation, they accept only to see Skurge disappear through a portal. Balder meanwhile leads the defense of the royal palace and the still-weak Odin. Balder and the royal guards fight valiantly but is about to be overwhelmed when Odin himself appear in the fray and pushes the demons back before collapsing from exhaustion.
Upon his deathbed, Odin confides in Balder stating that though Thor is destined to kill the Midgard Serpent, he cannot be allowed to if only because it will continue the heinous cycle the Asgardian live in. With his last strength and dying breath, Odin transfers his power to his spear and gives it to Balder, making it clear what must be done. The All-Father then passes away.
In the sky, everything appears to be going well for Loki and Thor. Surtur is distracted by Loki as Thor begins to wear down the Midgard Serpent. Suddenly, Surtur unleashes a monstrous counterattack against Loki and incapacitates him. Thor can only as look on as Surtur (truly) kills Loki. In an epic rage, Thor attacks Surtur and nearly beats him to death with Mjolnir when Amora re-appear with Jane as hostage. Surtur must be allowed to defeat the Midgard Serpent if Thor wants Jane to live. Even if Thor disagrees, he must still find, fight, and defeat Amora to free Jane and therefore still buy time for Surtur to defeat the Midgard Serpent. As if on cue, Sif attacks Amora and frees Jane. She tells Thor she’ll handle Amora. He needs to defeat Surtur and kill the Midgard Serpent.
Skurge the Executioner reappears out of the portal leading an army of Frost Giants in aid of the beleaguered Asgardians. Fandral and Volstagg, taking a cue from Skurge’s idea, calls upon Hogun’s people, the Vanir, as well as Balder’s friends, the Light Elves, to fight as well. With an influx of allies at their side, the Asgardian begins a vigorous counteroffensive and the tide begins to turn.
Sif is able to stave off Amora from killing Jane long enough until Thor uses Mjolnir to punch Surtur into the Midgard Serpent and killing him. With their leader dead and the battle loss, the Fire Demons flee back to Muspelheim. Amora, though freed of servitude from Surtur, is appalled as she knows what comes next. Hela, fulfilling the agreement she had made with Amora for the location of the Jörmungandr, drags a screaming Amora down to Hel.
Thor turns his attention back to the Midgard Serpent who has recuperated from Thor’s earlier attacks and begun ravaging the city of Asgard. Thor’s renew attacks are enough to distract the Serpent from utterly obliterating Asgard. The battle is titanic and Thor must call upon the full might of his power to just hold him at bay. The storm, ripe with thunder and lightning, above Asgard is fiercer than any that has come before. In the end, Thor’s strength is just about to give out and he finds himself fighting from being crushed by the jaws of the Serpent. In the most heroic of fashions, Balder suddenly appears and hurl Odin’s spear, imbued not only with Odin’s power but Balder’s power as God of Light as well, into the Serpent’s mouth and through its skull, killing him in an instant. The cycle is finally ended…
With Ragnarok over, the Nine Realms separate once again. The cost of the battle has been great with many soldiers on both sides laid strewn upon the city steps of Asgard—among them, Volstagg who gave his life to defend his home. Soon the Valkyries will come to bear him hence to join his brother-in-arms, Hogun, in Valhalla.
Thor stands upon the steps of the throne where his father had died not too long ago. Behind him stands Jane, Fandral, Heimdall, Sif, Skurge, and Balder as well as a countless other soldiers and citizens of Asgard awaiting his order as the King. So it was to their surprise and delight, when Thor turned around to faced his subject. However, instead of issuing a decree for mourning or rebuilding, he handed Odin’s spear to Balder and bowed. The people of Asgard knew what this meant and proudly bowed before the Slayer of Jörmungandr, the new King of Asgard: Balder. Afterward as the crowd disperses, Balder ask Sif if she would be his queen and rule by his side. Though Sif pronounce her love for Balder, the one she felt for Thor for so long, she declined stating she would prefer to defend his kingship as a warrior; with the sword and the shield.
Thor watches as Balder and Sif embrace before leaving with Jane and Heimdall. At the Bifrost Bridge, Heimdall sends Jane and Thor back to Earth. When Jane asks Thor if he was leaving again, a realization came to him. His father, mother, and brother were all dead. Asgard has a crowned a new king. What responsibility did he still hold to Asgard? He turned to Jane and said, “No.”
FANCAST
Warning: I am fully aware that these castings are not very original.
Benjamin Walker as Balder – For the character of Balder, I looked for an establish actor with a physical presence worthy of an Asgardian. Benjamin Walker is a great actor, especially if anybody has ever seen him perform on stage or Broadway. He’s an actor who already has experience in action and standing at 6’3”, is an imposing sight, comparable to Chris Hemsworth. I chose to make the character of Balder a cousin of Thor (as opposed to a half-brother) because in a film series so focused on the bond between two brothers (Thor and Loki) it would be weird if the third brother was never mention. Being cousin makes it more feasible.
Alice Eve as Amora – I chose Alice Eve as Amora the Enchantress because not only does she look the part but also because she has slowly built a reputation as an actress who can bring a major supporting character to life, given them a moment of life—in this case, a film chock full of other characters. I can definitely see Eve as this conniving yet playful villain whose allegiance the audience may never be able to pin down.
Jason Momoa as Skurge – As oppose too many of the other choices for Skurge out there, I needed a big actor who has experience in at least a major, speaking, supporting role. Skurge isn’t a mindless brute who will do anything Amora tells him without question. He is a warrior with a code of honor and when he is forced to break those codes, there is an internal struggle within himself. There is substance to the character and I didn’t want to give the role to any big brutish actor. Now granted, Jason Momoa isn’t what you can call a “good actor” but he has at least had plenty of speaking roles, whether as lead or supporting. I considered Dwayne Johnson but in my opinion the dude is WAY too overexposed.
Keith David as Surtur – For Surtur I looked for an actor who had experience in both live action film and voice acting. Among those who fit the bill—and indeed there were many—Keith David’s distinctively deep voice and facial features—which would play prominently into motion capture allowed him to stand out which is why I casted him.
Angelina Jolie/Eva Green as Hela – My first choice to play Hela is Angelina Jolie because of two reasons. Firstly, I tried not to cast anyone here that I’ve casted in my DC editorials (I casted Eva Green as Poison Ivy in my Batman editorial). Secondly, though I’ve only seen the trailers, what Angelina Jolie does in the upcoming Maleficent is almost exactly how I imagine Hela acting and speaking albeit just slightly creepier. However, Angelina Jolie is an A-list superstar who I’m willing to bet will never take on a role like this, especially at this point in her career. Eva Green was simply the best second choice. She is a great actress who has played her fair share of dark characters before so I have no doubt she would be able to pull off this role.
Let me know what you guys think and comment in the usual spot.