How Thor: Ragnarok Could Lead Into Avengers: Infinity War
Thor: Ragnarok promises to be a welcome return for Thor and the Hulk, both of whom were deliberately kept away from the implosion of the Avengers during Captain America: Civil War. (For a moment, Chris Hemsworth even thought he was fired when he didn’t receive an invitation to Civil War). Just going on the delights we’ve been treated to in the first Thor: Ragnarok teaser, it looks like being isolated from the rest of the squabbling Avengers was the best thing for the Odinson and the Green Goliath.
In truth, Marvel Studios was wise not to involve Thor and Hulk in Civil War. That story was decidedly Earthbound and steeped in geo-political issues, involving the signing of the Sokovia Accords as well as the personal history of Tony Stark and the secret murder of his parents by Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier. Hulk and Thor both fought Ultron in the pivotal Battle of Sokovia, but their presence and power levels – both are classified as “a couple of nukes” by Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross – would have drastically escalated the already costly conflict between Team Cap and Team Iron Man. The two-year gap between seeing Thor and Banner again also puts distance between one of the more unpopular subplots that occurred in Age of Ultron: the budding romance between Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanoff.
However Thor’s outer space “buddy cop-road trip” adventure with Hulk to eventually save Asgard from destruction turns out, eventually all Rainbow Bridges must lead toAvengers: Infinity War, and the six most prized objects in the MCU, the Infinity Stones. While most of his previous adventures in the Marvel Cinematic Universe kept him bound to Earth, either working with his now-former love interest Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) or with his superhero allies the Avengers, Thor parted with his human friends at the conclusion ofAvengers: Age of Ultron to pursue answers about the Infinity Stones.
When he received a vision during Age of Ultron, Thor became aware that several of the Infinity Stones have appeared on Earth. Thor has personally encountered three Infinity Stones already: the Space Stone (the Tesseract), now housed in Asgard; the Mind Stone, now in the Vision’s forehead; and the Reality Stone (the Aether), which was housed by the Collector in Knowhere but hasn’t been mentioned since his museum was destroyed. Thor may be aware that the Time Stone is in the possession of Dr. Stephen Strange, in the form of the Eye of Agamotto, after they conversed in the end credits scene of Doctor Strange. Thor is likely not yet aware of the Guardians of the Galaxy’s encounter with the Power Stone (the Orb), which is now locked away on Nova Prime.
This leaves the sixth and final Infinity Stone, the Soul Stone. It’s whereabouts are currently unknown, but there’s plenty of evidence to suggest it’s also on Asgard, hidden in plain sight. Quite possibly, the Soul Stone has always been in the possession of Heimdall (Idris Elba), the gatekeeper of Asgard. Heimdall has boasted, “I can see the Nine Realms and ten trillion souls.” His eyes are orange, which is keeping with the color scheme established for the Soul Stone, and when he came to Thor in the dream Scarlet Witch hexed Thor with in Age of Ultron, Heimdall was blind and raving that Thor would be the death of Asgard. It could be the Soul Stone that Hela uses to destroy Asgard in Ragnarok.
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