FAN-ticizing: Shameless Thor 3 Villain Speculation!

FAN-ticizing: Shameless Thor 3 Villain Speculation!

Wondering what will happen to the God of Thunder in Avengers: Age of Ultron and beyond? Come check out my theories as to what might play out in Thor 3...

Editorial Opinion
By TheBestAndy - Apr 29, 2014 02:04 AM EST
Filed Under: Thor
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…

 
  1. 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. 
 
  1.  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
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BoomTubeB
BoomTubeB - 4/29/2014, 3:39 AM
Hela would mesh well with Thor's current state of Asgard! good article !
TheBestAndy
TheBestAndy - 4/29/2014, 3:42 AM
Yeah, I think it would be a massive stretch to go straight for the Sutur / Ragnorak thing in Thor 3 with all the Loki / Odin stuff hanging over from the
first two. I would love to see that kind of bookended though and a more linear Sutur story for Thor 4 though, if they can get the cast back on board. Thanks for your comments guys!

BTW - any tips from you guys as to how to get the photos to display? I've looked at the video tutorial and followed it to the letter but am still having issues.

TheBestAndy
TheBestAndy - 4/29/2014, 4:05 AM
Done! Great tip there Doopie, thanks a lot.
TheBestAndy
TheBestAndy - 4/29/2014, 4:16 AM
Awesome - i'll shelve that tip for the next article!

@batz - I really hope they steer way clear of Spiderman 3 territory. I'd go with your battle choices to a point but for the third firlm reckon it'll be more

Hela (Main villain - defeated by Thor and Odin)
Loki (Secondary Villain - banished by Odin at end of the film or ends up in Hel)
Enchantress & Executioner (minor villains - Skurge taken down by Volstagg / Fandral / Hogun & Amora by Sif)

With hopefully a Surtur tease at the end for Thor 4!
thunderforce
thunderforce - 4/29/2014, 4:33 AM
I think it is Surtur , Enchantress and Executioner .
Moohika
Moohika - 4/29/2014, 6:39 AM
If there is only one more Thor movie, I would love to see Beta Ray Bill as the "villain". How badass would that be?!
sKeemAn
sKeemAn - 4/29/2014, 7:21 AM
Nice artcle. I agree with Depthpillow. Hela, Enchantress, Executioner and Loki.
WYLEEJAY
WYLEEJAY - 4/29/2014, 8:35 AM
Well if Odin dies, he would go to Valhalla. So maybe Loki DID make a deal with Hela to get him the throne and Odin to Hel. What if in the cinematic universe half of Odins power is used to keep Surtur entombed in his realm. So when Odin goes to Hel it sets Surtur free.

This would give Hela just a small part.
Loki can definitely have Enchantress and Skurge as generals.
introduce Valkyrie and Balder too.
Big showdown against Surtur at the end.
I'm tired of Jane but there has to be a way to work her into the story. She's too important to Thor in the movies. I like the idea of her being kidnapped I guess.

This may seem like too much going on, but really it would be small parts for Hela, Balder, and Valkyrie.
WYLEEJAY
WYLEEJAY - 4/29/2014, 8:39 AM
Does anyone remember why Malekith was called accursed in the comics? Cause he was brought back to life sort of. Dark sorcery stuff. So what if they bring him back from Hel later on, and that's how he gets his magical abilities like his comic book counterpart.
WYLEEJAY
WYLEEJAY - 4/29/2014, 9:03 AM
Yeah if they did that it would make him more enjoyable when I watch TDW. Knowing that its before he was accursed would make it a bit more of an origin for him. Bring him back for part four.

So part four could have...

Malekith the accursed
more Hela
Ulik
Karnilla
Muir

Essentially Ragnarok is the war that ruins Asgard and kills them all off. So Ymir, Ulik, and Malekith fighting alongside each other for Hela would make more sense.

The trick would be finding a way for Thor to stop it from happening. In the comics he approached the Ones who watch from above. I think that was their names. Feel free to correct me.
Wallymelon
Wallymelon - 4/29/2014, 9:34 AM
I like everything but the Midgard serpent. That only works for the cartoon in my opinion. So we never knew there's a giant snake thing travel around earth and stuff? Like we have a lot of technology in the MCU now so someone would have said something by now. I like the Hela plot a bit more. I would however like to see Surtur and Thor sacrifice himself to maybe not even be in Avengers 3 but in a guardians film or something with Beta Ray Bill.
Trickwil
Trickwil - 4/29/2014, 9:50 AM
It'll be Surture, But remembering that they will be mostly based on Earth, now that he's left his father (loki) to rule I expect to see the wrecking crew reimagined. (The the goofy shit with the masks and enchanted crobar.)
Trickwil
Trickwil - 4/29/2014, 9:52 AM
Wyleejay- I like that as the main focus of the story. With Thor in Hel trying to free Odin and the story beginning with him beating the shit out of the wrecking crew on earth. You can Have Jane as a side character as who he was living with happy before all the problems in Asgard come back to hand him.
Trickwil
Trickwil - 4/29/2014, 9:57 AM
The other reason why Hela could be in it, is to explain Loki more. Like go back and show Loki having a tryst with the Giantess, and Odin not wanting to claim that grandchild so sending her to rule over another realm. Loki would still be hurt by his father refusing to recognize his bastard offspring and could help with Loki's pain and depth.
BubSnikt
BubSnikt - 4/29/2014, 2:24 PM
The thing is, Thor has 3 main villains
1. Loki
2. Enchantress/Executioner
3.Surtur

All 3 of these villains are in the top 25 Marvel villains of all time IMO. They really should have used Enchantress/Executioner in Thor 2. Huge wasted opportunity using Malekith.

But the past is the past. The only way I see Surtur making it in is if they have Thor 4, or maybe a team-up movie
Lhornbk
Lhornbk - 4/29/2014, 4:50 PM
After TDW, I would be perfectly fine with Thor just being used in Avengers movies and not having any more solo movies.
CapitanAmerika2
CapitanAmerika2 - 4/30/2014, 4:52 PM
@TheBestAndy: This article was amazing!!!! Can you do one for Cap 3 now?
TheBestAndy
TheBestAndy - 5/1/2014, 6:16 AM
@vandinejd - Thanks a lot! I'm really stoked that my first article has been so well received! I'm working on another feature but I'll defo give Cap 3 some thought. I loved The Winter Soldier
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