Ok…so after a couple of years of following this site and checking it daily for news on my favourite comic book characters and upcoming CBMs I decided to sign up a few days ago and get involved.
This is my first article, and seeing as my wife recently made me watch both Thor films and The Avengers again due to her huge crush on Chris Hemsworth (not that I blame her or am complaining about having to watch the films!) I thought I’d start with something nice and simple like a couple of theories regarding the potential villains for the third instalment of the Thor franchise.
I know some people have speculated already regarding this and obviously a lot will depend on where Thor finishes up at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron, however based on what they’ve done with Thor on screen so far and the major arcs from the comics here are my two main theories.
Just a warning – if you’ve not seen Thor: The Dark World yet then there may be a few spoilers ahead, but seeing as it’s been out for ages, I can’t imagine that would be many of you. Anyway…here goes…
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Hela
Reason for potential villain choice: Hela is the Asgardian Goddess of Death. We know that Frigga died in Thor: The Dark World and it has since been confirmed by some of the folks at Marvel that she’s not coming back (though obviously she could return in flashbacks or visions etc.) In addition to this, Loki seems to have cheated death in some way and has somehow also dethroned Odin who is presumed at the end of the second film as either dead or missing. There are also direct references to “Hell” or “Hel” in the film (Loki saying to Kurse “See you in Hell/Hel” for example.) Interestingly, as well as all of this, Kevin Feige recently discussed the importance of Death in the Marvel universe – so I think it is not a huge stretch of the imagination that Hela could be involved in Thor 3 in some capacity.
Potential plot: If Marvel did go with Hela, I could imagine some kind of flashback to Thor: The Dark World where post Loki’s “death” we see Hela arrive to claim his soul and makes some sort of pact with him regarding giving him a second chance at life in return for Odin’s soul. In the comics Hela is in charge of the realm of the unrighteous dead but is constantly butting heads with Odin by trying to interfere with Valhalla (the realm of the righteous dead). It has been questioned by numerous CBM fans as to how Loki could’ve dethroned Odin so easily and it would certainly make it at least a little more believable if Loki hadn’t taken on Odin on his own but with some help from someone as powerful as Hela.
Further to this, a potential story line could be that since the events of The Dark World, Thor has actually based himself of Earth and been away from Asgard for some time and that at the beginning of the film he is visited on Earth by one of the Warriors 3 to inform him things aren’t going well in Asgard (much like what happened in Ep3 “Thor the Mighty” in the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes cartoon.) He returns to find Loki in charge with some kind of army or back up and has to go to Hel to redeem Odin’s soul and restore Asgard leading to a showdown between Thor, Odin and Hela before they return to Asgard to sort Loki out once and for all. Showdowns such as this have happened numerous times in the comics, would be seen as a faithful interpretation by many comic book fans and would obviously showcase more of the 9 realms and keep with the darker tone of the last film. Finally, my best guess would be that at the end of the film Loki will either have to take Odin’s place in Hel or Thor and Odin will find some sort of loophole and he will be banished to somewhere like the Isle of Silence, which again has been used in the cartoons and comics.
Potential supporting characters: The Enchantress and Executioner
I think one of the flaws in my theory is that essential this story would make Loki a major villain again and whilst we all know Marvel loves Tom Hiddleston’s Loki (as many of us all do) I’m not sure they would want to make him the main protagonist for the third film. I could however see him as ruling Asgard with an iron fist from a distance, with perhaps his own band of misfits and I think Amora and Skurge would fit right in here being outcasts of Asgard and having plenty of their own issues with both Odin and Thor. It would be cool to see them acting as Loki’s generals and perhaps having a showdown with the Warriors 3 – Fandral, Volstagg and Hogun vs Skurge and Sif vs Amora – or something to that effect. This would be an interesting side plot to whatever would be happening whilst Thor is in Hel trying to free Odin and I could even see Loki sending The Enchantress and Executioner to Earth to kidnap Jane to keep the love story element alive and give him some kind of leverage over Thor again.
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Surtur
Reason for potential villain choice: As has been mentioned on numerous occasions, Surtur is arguably Thor’s most powerful ally. At the end of Thor 3, Chris Hemsworth will only have 1 more film to go and it is still largely assumed he will be required for the Avengers 3. Whilst he may sign on for more films like RDJ has, he may not and if so it may be tempting for Marvel to pit him against Surtur for the grand finale of the Thor trilogy.
Potential Plot: Whilst I think Surtur is less likely a choice than Hela, if Marvel did go with him as the main villain I still can’t see them getting around the Loki / Odin cliffhanger from the end of The Dark World without having to explain a few things. I could imagine some kind of arc where during the second film whilst Asgard was under siege from The Dark Elves, the seal to Surtur’s prison is broken and as such he gets out, wreaking havoc on the 9 realms and in particular Asgard. Looking for Odin, he finds Loki who is no match for him; this time Loki reaches out to Thor for help and both Loki and Thor travel to Hel to free Odin and take on Surtur. To keep Thor’s involvement in Earth alive, again I would suggest that Thor starts the film on Earth and is contacted by one of the Warriors 3 to urgently return to Asgard. Alternatively the final showdown could again take place on Earth, with Surtur unleashing the Midgard Serpent to begin Ragnorak, however I think it would be a huge ask of any filmmaker to translate Surtur, The Midgard Serpent and Ragnorak to the big screen all in one film with things becoming horribly rushed or complicated. Also Thor has now had two solo battles with major adversaries on Earth and it would seem pretty cheap to do the same thing again, though if done right it could make for by far the best Thor film we have seen so far and give Marvel the chance to truly show Thor off as The God of Thunder ala the current run by Jason Aaron (which by the way if you have not picked up you most definitely should.
Potential supporting characters: Hela, Midgard Serpent.
Again the weakness with this theory is it could feel like the middle act of The Dark World again with a Thor and Loki team up / buddy movie so I think that Marvel would have to introduce some new characters to keep fans interested. I think by including Hela they could tie off the Odin / Loki story nice and neatly even if only briefly. That said Hel could form a nice middle act to the film with Thor having to fight his way through to reach Muspelheim and take on Surtur and the fire demons, collecting Odin along the way – much like in Thor Vol. 3 where he finds Odin battling Surtur in Hel on a daily basis. With regards to the Midgard Serpent, like I mentioned earlier I think this is unlikely but that said if this is to be Hemsworth’s last Thor solo film, and the last Thor film for a while, they may want to amp things up to the max and introducing Ragnorak and The Midgard Serpent, certainly would do this. Also, Surtur could easily be portrayed as mad enough to do this and the combination of the two would mean Marvel could easily kill tons of characters off setting up recasts or a reboot of the Thor franchise at a later point.
So there you go! Two big theories on how Thor 3 could possibly play out, hope you enjoyed reading this and please feel free to let me know your own theories as well as how I can improve my articles for your future perusal!.
Andy