Thor (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Thor
Marvel Cinematic Universe character
First appearance	Thor (2011)
Created by	Comic book character Stan Lee Larry Lieber Jack Kirby MCU character Ashley Miller Zack Stentz Don Payne J. Michael Straczynski Mark Protosevich
Portrayed by	Chris Hemsworth
In-universe information
Species	Asgardian
Occupation	God of Thunder Prince of Asgard Strongest Avenger (disputed)
Affiliation	Avengers Revengers
Family	Odin (father, deceased) Freya (mother, deceased) Loki (adopted brother, deceased)

Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has borrowed a number of characteristics and story lines from across the fifty-plus year history of the character of Thor in Marvel Comics.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Feature films

Main articles: Thor (film), The Avengers (2012 film), Thor: The Dark World, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor: Ragnarok, and Avengers: Infinity War

• Chris Hemsworth stars as the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, first appearing in Thor (2011), and subsequently appearing in The Avengers (2012), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), and Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018). Hemsworth cameos in the mid-credits scene of Doctor Strange (2016).
• Hemsworth will reprise the role in Untitled Avengers film (2019).

Fictional character biography

Origins and first visit to Earth

Thor is the son of Odin, king of Asgard. As Thor prepares to ascend to the throne, Frost Giants attempt to retrieve an artifact captured by Odin in a war centuries before. Against Odin's order, Thor travels to Jotunheim to confront Frost Giant leader Laufey, accompanied by his brother Loki, childhood friend Sif and the Warriors Three: Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun. A battle ensues until Odin intervenes to save the Asgardians, destroying the fragile truce between the two races. For Thor's arrogance, Odin strips his son of his godly power and exiles him to Earth as a mortal, accompanied by his hammer Mjolnir, now protected by an enchantment that allows only the worthy to wield it.

Thor lands in New Mexico, where astrophysicist Dr. Jane Foster. Thor discovers Mjolnir's nearby location and seeks to retrieve it from the facility that S.H.I.E.L.D. quickly constructed around it but he finds himself unable to lift it, and is captured. With the help of Dr. Erik Selvig, he is freed and resigns himself to exile on Earth as he develops a romance with Jane. Loki seizes the throne as Odin sleeps, and the Warriors Three find Thor, but the Destroyer attacks and defeats them, prompting Thor to offer himself instead. Struck by the Destroyer and near death, Thor's sacrifice proves him worthy to wield Mjolnir. The hammer returns to him, restoring his powers and enabling him to defeat the Destroyer. Thor returns to Asgard and fights Loki before destroying the Bifröst Bridge to stop Loki's plans, stranding himself in Asgard. Odin awakens and prevents the brothers from falling into the abyss created in the wake of the bridge's destruction, but Loki apparently commits suicide by allowing himself to fall when Odin rejects his pleas for approval. Thor makes amends with Odin, admitting he is not ready to be king.

Joining the Avengers

In the abyss, Loki encounters the leader of the Chitauri, who promises Loki an army with which he can subjugate Earth in exchange for Loki retrieving the Tesseract, a powerful energy source of unknown potential. After causing havoc on Earth, Loki is captured by Tony Stark (Iron Man) and Steve Rogers (Captain America), but Thor arrives and frees him, hoping to convince him to abandon his plan and return to Asgard. After a brief fight with Stark and Rogers, Thor agrees to take Loki to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s flying aircraft carrier, the Helicarrier. Agents possessed by Loki attack the Helicarrier, disabling one of its engines in flight and causing Banner to transform into the Hulk. Thor attempts to stop the Hulk's rampage, and is ejected from the airship as Loki escapes. Loki opens a wormhole over New York City to allow the Chitauri army to invade, and Thor and the other Avengers rally in defense of the city. Once the Chitauri are defeated, Thor returns Loki and the Tesseract to Asgard.

In Asgard, Thor and his fellow warriors, repel marauders on Vanaheim, home of their comrade Hogun; it is the final battle in a war to pacify the Nine Realms following the reconstruction of the Bifröst. The Asgardians learn that the Convergence, a rare alignment of the Nine Realms, is imminent; as the event approaches, portals linking the worlds appear at random.

Heimdall alerts Thor that Jane Foster has moved beyond his near all-seeing vision, leading Thor to Earth. Jane inadvertently releases an unearthly force, and Thor returns with her to Asgard. Odin, recognizing the force as a weapon known as the Aether, warns that the Aether will not only kill Jane, but that its return heralds a catastrophic prophecy. The Dark Elf Malekith attacks Asgard, searching for Jane. Thor's mother Frigga is killed protecting Jane, and Malekith is forced to flee. Despite Odin's orders not to leave Asgard, Thor reluctantly enlists the help of Loki, who knows of a secret portal to Svartalfheim, where they will use Jane to lure and confront Malekith, away from Asgard. In return, Thor promises Loki vengeance on Malekith for killing their mother. With Volstagg and Sif stalling Asgardian soldiers and Fandral assisting their escape, Thor, Loki, and Jane head to Svartalfheim.

Loki tricks Malekith into drawing the Aether out of Jane, but Thor's attempt to destroy the exposed substance fails. Malekith merges with the Aether and leaves in his ship as Loki is fatally wounded. Thor promises to tell their father of his sacrifice. Thor and Jane discover another portal in a nearby cave and return to London. Learning that Malekith plans to come to Greenwich Thor battles Malekith, ultimately defeating him. Thor returns to Asgard, where he declines Odin's offer to take the throne and tells Odin of Loki's sacrifice. As he leaves, Odin's form transforms into Loki, who is alive and impersonating Odin. Jane and Thor reunite on Earth.

Later, Thor and the other Avengers raid a Hydra facility in Sokovia, retrieving Loki's scepter. Stark and Banner discover an artificial intelligence within the scepter's gem, and secretly decide to use it to complete Stark's "Ultron" global defense program. The unexpectedly sentient Ultron, believing he must eradicate humanity to save Earth, eliminates Stark's A.I. J.A.R.V.I.S. and attacks the Avengers at their headquarters before escaping with the scepter. The Avengers attack Ultron and but Wanda Maximoff subdues them with haunting visions. Thor departs to consult with Dr. Selvig on the meaning of the apocalyptic future he saw in his hallucination.

The Avengers fight amongst themselves when Stark secretly uploads J.A.R.V.I.S.—who is still operational after hiding from Ultron inside the Internet—into the synthetic body. Thor returns to help activate the body, explaining that the gem on its brow—one of the six Infinity Stones, the most powerful objects in existence—was part of his vision. The Avengers return to Sokovia and defeat Ultron. Later, with the Avengers having established a new base, Thor returns to Asgard to learn more about the forces he suspects have manipulated recent events.

Destruction of Asgard

Two years after the battle of Sokovia, Thor has been unsuccessfully searching for the Infinity Stones, and is now imprisoned by the fire demon Surtur in Muspelheim. Surtur reveals that Thor's father Odin is no longer on Asgard, and that the realm will soon be destroyed in the prophesied Ragnarök, once Surtur unites his crown with the Eternal Flame that burns in Odin's vault. Thor defeats Surtur and claims his crown, believing he has prevented Ragnarök.

Thor returns to Asgard to find Loki posing as Odin. Thor forces Loki to help him find their father, and with directions from Stephen Strange on Earth, they locate Odin in Norway. Odin explains that he is dying, and that his passing will allow his firstborn child, Hela, to escape from a prison she was sealed in long ago. Hela, released from her imprisonment, destroys Mjolnir, and when Thor and Loki attempt to flee through the Bifröst, she pursues them and forces them out into space to die. Thor crash-lands on Sakaar, a garbage planet surrounded by wormholes. He is captured by a slave trader named Scrapper 142, and sold to serve as a gladiator for the planet's ruler, the Grandmaster, with whom Loki has already become ingratiated. Thor recognizes 142 as one of the Valkyrior, a legendary force of female warriors who were killed defending Asgard from Hela long ago. Thor is forced to compete in the Grandmaster's Contest of Champions, facing his old friend Hulk. Summoning lightning, Thor gets the upper hand on Hulk, but the Grandmaster sabotages the fight to ensure Hulk's victory. Still enslaved, Thor attempts to convince Hulk and 142 to help him save Asgard, but neither is willing. He escapes the palace and finds the Quinjet that brought Hulk to Sakaar. Hulk follows Thor to the Quinjet, where a recording of Natasha Romanoff makes him transform back into Bruce Banner for the first time since Sokovia.

The Grandmaster orders 142 and Loki to find Thor and Hulk, but the pair come to blows and Loki forces her to relive the deaths of her fellow Valkyrie at the hands of Hela. Deciding to help Thor, she takes Loki captive to prove her goodwill. Unwilling to be left behind, Loki provides the group with the means to steal one of the Grandmaster's ships. They then liberate the other gladiators who, led by Korg and Miek, stage a revolution. Loki attempts to betray his brother to gain a reward from the Grandmaster, but Thor anticipates this and leaves him behind. Thor, Banner, and 142 escape through a wormhole to Asgard, where Hela's forces are attacking Heimdall and Asgard's citizens. Thor and 142 battle Hela's forces, and Thor, facing Hela, loses an eye and then has a vision of Odin that helps him realize only Ragnarök can stop Hela. While Hela is distracted, Loki locates Surtur's crown and places it in the Eternal Flame. Surtur is reborn and destroys Asgard, seemingly killing Hela. Thor and the others escape with Asgard's remaining citizens aboard the Grandmaster's vessel. Thor, crowned king, decides to take his people to Earth, but they are intercepted by a large spacecraft carrying Thanos and his minions seeking to extract the Space Stone from the Tesseract.

Thor, Loki, and Hulk are unable to stop them as Thor is imprisoned while Thanos overpowers Hulk and kills Loki. Heimdall uses the Bifröst to send Hulk to Earth and is killed by Glaive. Thanos and his children depart with the Space Stone, using the Power Stone to obliterate the ship. The Guardians of the Galaxy respond to a distress call from the Asgardian ship and recover Thor, who guesses that Thanos will be looking for the Reality Stone. Rocket Raccoon and Groot accompany Thor to Nidavellir to retrieve a weapon capable of killing Thanos. They meet Eitri at an abandoned Nidavellir, and the four create Stormbreaker, an axe that grants Thor the power of the Bifröst. Thanos invades Wakanda, and his army of Outriders are on the verge of overwhelming the Wakandan forces when Thor, Rocket and Groot arrive on Earth via the Bifröst and rally with the defenders. Thanos retrieves the last Infinity Stone, and although he is grievously wounded by Thor, he is able to activate the Infinity Gauntlet and teleport away, leaving Thor in Wakanda as half the people in the universe are disintegrated.

Concept and creation

Appearance and special effects

Director Kenneth Branagh and Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige chose Hemsworth after a back-and-forth process in which the 27-year-old actor was initially dropped from consideration and then given a second chance to read for the part. Hemsworth stated that he gained 20 pounds for the role by eating non-stop and revealed that "It wasn't until Thor that I started lifting weights, it was all pretty new to me." Regarding his take on the character, Hemsworth said, "We just kept trying to humanize it all, and keep it very real. Look into all the research about the comic books that we could, but also bring it back to 'Who is this guy as a person, and what's his relationship with people in the individual scenes?'" About approaching Thor's fighting style, he remarked, "First, we looked at the comic books and the posturing, the way [Thor] moves and fights, and a lot of his power seems to be drawn up through the ground. We talked about boxers, you know, Mike Tyson, very low to the ground and big open chest and big shoulder swings and very sort of brutal but graceful at the same time, and then as we shot stuff things became easier." Dakota Goyo portrays a young Thor.

Thor's appearance has changed from each film to the next. For the first film, Visual Development Supervisor Charlie Wen focused on mixing elements from the comic books with Norse mythology in creating Thor's costume, keeping the six disk-shaped adornments on his upper body, but "trying to maintain the Norse side of things" as much as possible. The first design element that Wen attempted was Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, for which Wen created a number of possible alternatives, incorporating designs including "the traditional Thor hammer with the short handle as well as the Ultimates versions", from which the one Branagh chose "was the most traditional one". For The Avengers, Thor's costume was modified slightly to fit in better with other members of the team, and to make his movements and appearance in casual scenes more natural, with changes including enhancing the blue tones in the costume, and reducing the size of Thor's cape. The most significant change to Thor's appearance occurs in Thor: Ragnorak, where Thor's long hair is cut short, his hammer is destroyed, and he is dressed as a gladiator in a battle-tattered costume for his combat with Hulk. The changes were suggested by Hemsworth, who had tired of repeatedly playing the character the same way in previous appearances, and agreed to by director Taika Waititi.

See also

• Thor in other media

References

Category:Fictional characters introduced in 2011 Category:Marvel Cinematic Universe Category:Superhero film characters