New Mexico

"I thought Sitwell was on Banner." "He was, but I had to send him to New Mexico." "Why?" "Because I got an alien object in New Mexico, that's why!"

- Black Widow and Nick Fury

New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States of America.

Thor's Arrival on Earth
"You! What realm is this? Alfheim, Niflheim?" "New Mexico?"

- Thor and Darcy Lewis

Astrophysicists Jane Foster and Erik Selvig from Culver University moved to the small town of Puente Antiguo, along with Foster's intern Darcy Lewis, in order to study unusual atmospheric phenomena in the outskirst of the city.

Foster was convinced that a series of 17 patterned atmospheric disturbances detected in New Mexico were related to her investigation, so she asked Dr. Selvig, her mentor, to help her. Selvig, however, was very skeptical about the phenomena, and tried to persuade Foster into giving up those studies. While arguing, they witnessed a disturbance bigger than the previous ones, and tried to approach the disturbance in order to film it.

They were catched in what appeared to be a tornado provoked by a wormhole caused during Thor's banishment on Earth, which transported a confused Thor to the desert, were he wandered a few seconds before being hit by Foster's RV.

Foster tended a seemingly unharmed but confused Thor, who tried to contact Odin and Heimdall to open again the Bifrost Bridge, and questioned Foster, Selvig and Lewis about his current location, using terms that they didn't understand. Scared for his behaviour, Lewis tazed Thor, and they translated to the County Hospital in Puente Antiguo. Thor, thinking he was endangered, attack the doctors and other personnel, until he was sedated and restrained.

The following morning, Foster and Selving were reviewing the data of the phenomena, and found similarities with an Einstein-Rosen Bridge, or more commonly known, a Wormhole, even having an image of a group of constellations not visible from Earth. However, Darcy Lewis found a more interesting image, an humanoid form descending from the storm, and Foster realized that Thor may had come from the wormhole.

At the hospital, Thor awoke to find himself restraint, and managed to free himself before Foster and her coworkers arrived, only to be hit again with the RV when leaving the hospital.

A trucker located the crater where Thor's hammer, Mjølnir, fell on Earth in the outskirts of Puente Antiguo, but as he was unable to lift it, he brought together many members of the neighbouring towns, organizing outdoor barbecues and lifting contests to try to lift the hammer. However, Mjølnir didn't move even with the use of trucks and machines.

Agent Phil Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived at the location being assigned to investigate the appearance of the hammer, informing Director Nick Fury once he arrived.

Foster took Thor to her house, offering clothes from his ex-boyfriend, Donald Blake, and he asked to nurture his body. While eating at Isabel's Diner, Thor's customs clashed with behaviour expected in such situations, and Foster, embarrased, asked him to stop. They overheard a conversation between the townsfolk about what was believed as a satellite that fell from the sky and was confiscated by federal agents. Thor recognized they were talking about Mjølnir, and asked about its location.

Thor promised to tell Foster everything she wanted to know about his procedence in exchange for driving him to the crater site, but Selvig, worried about Foster's safety and recognizing the behind Thor's backstory, warned her that Thor may be raving about those stories.

Foster then refused Thor's petition, and went to find that agent Coulson confiscated all her research and equipment. While Coulson offered a substantious compensation for the research, Foster complained about the seizure. Selvig knew that S.H.I.E.L.D. were only involved in serious topics, as he knew a scientist researching the field of Gamma Radiation that vanished after S.H.I.E.L.D. got involved. Selvig offered to contact one of his colleagues, who had previous dealings with S.H.I.E.L.D., asking for help, but as Selvig's laptop was also confiscated, he was unable to do it.

Foster then accepted Thor's proposal, while he was trying to obtain a horse or any other mount, and drove him to the crater's location. On the way, Thor's continuous references to Earth being one of the Nine Realms made her suspicious, but Thor surprised her with an analogy between what she knew as Einstein-Rosen Bridge and his Bifrost Bridge.

At night, Thor and Foster arrived at the location of the hammer, finding that S.H.I.E.L.D. erected a heavily guarded research station around Mjølnir. Thor asked Foster to stay hidden and promised to return her belongings after recovering Mjølnir.

An electric storm began, caused by Mjølnir's reaction Thor's presence, and it started jamming most of the electronic devices in the facility. Agent Jasper Sitwell, second in command of the operation after Coulson, ordered to alter the course of all commercial flights in the area, to not be affected by the interferences in an area denominated "event zone".

Thor opened a hole in the fence, and knocked out two agents sent to check it. Before their unconscious body was discovered, Thor managed to enter the complex, but in a short amount of time, all agents were mobilized and a red alert code was declared.

Worried, Foster called Selvig to come to the crater site in one hour in case he didn't have notice of her before.

Thor managed to enter the corridors constructed aroun Mjølnir, easily knocking down many S.H.I.E.L.D. agents before approaching. Agent Coulson, taking care of the situation, ordered to place an armed observer in an elevated position, and agent Clint Barton, one of the agency's best marksmen, fulfilled the request.

Thor had to fight a strong agent, able to hold his hand agains Thor for a while, but was able to defeat the agent. With Thor approaching Mjølnir, Barton was ordered not to act, as Coulson wanted to see what Thor would do with the hammer.

However, the hammer deemed Thor unworthy of lifting it, and Thor, frustrated, had to see how it didn't move a bit while being surrounded by agents and subsequently arrested.

Foster reunited with Selvig and Lewis, and while Selvig showed her a children's book about retrieved from the local library, with legends about Thor, Loki, Mjølnir and the Bifrost Bridge among others. Lewis sided with Foster in her theory that Norse gods could have been an advanced alien race, venerated as gods by the vikings because they were unable to fully understand what they truly were.

Agent Coulson started interrogating Thor, wanting to know where he received the training needed to subdue the multiple S.H.I.E.L.D. agents he defeated while trying to gain access to Mjølnir, as for Coulson, only mercenaries with similar or better training could have defeated them. As there are organizations that would pay large sums of money for a mercenary with Thor's skills, he demanded to know his identity, to no avail.

Loki appeared before Thor, and lied to him assuring that Odin died after Thor's banishment, and now Loki was the one who occupied the throne of Asgard. Thor, saddened to learn the news, asked to return to Asgard, and Loki lied again, saying that the peace with Jotunheim conditioned by the exile, and that Frigga had explicitly forbidden Thor's return.

Loki parted ways with Thor, starting a change of heart about the actions that lead to his own exile. Loki tried to lift Mjølnir himself, but as Thor before him, he was deemed unworthy.

Coulson attended Erik Selvig, who came to the facility to try to pick up Thor, having faked an I.D. as Donald Blake, and he excused his acts as being angry for the confiscation of Foster's research, and he was able to deafeat the agent due to the consumption of steroids. Coulson let Selvig depart with Thor to monitorize his moves, and Thor, while leaving, retrieved Foster's confiscated book.

Selvig and Thor went to a bar, and Thor admitted that this was the first time in his whole life that he didn't know what to do. Selvig, on the other hand, was just concerned over Foster's well-being, and tried to make Thor leave the town to protect her.

Later, Thor brought a heavily drunk Selvig to Foster's mobile home, and Thor and Foster started talking in a rooftop about their encounters. Thor gave Foster her book, and encouraged her to continue her investigation despite S.H.I.E.L.D.'s interference, as she was right.

Thor explained that the Nine Realms were a group of planets connected by a cosmic nimbus, Yggdrasil, as seen in the Hubble telescope, explaining a little history about the realms before Foster fell asleep.

Sif and the Warriors Three; Fandral, Volstagg and Hogun; wanting to make Thor return to Asgard, arrived to Puente Antiguo, and their unusual appearance draw the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents stationed in the city, until they finally found Thor and revealed Loki's lies about Odin's death.

S.H.I.E.L.D. detected the energy caused by the Bifrost, and Coulson, Sitwell and other agents went to the Bifrost site to check the place. They came across with the Destroyer, sent by Loki with an order to make sure that Thor wouldn't return, destroying everything in its path, and the armor attacked the agents without mercy.

Thor, Foster, Selvig and Lewis tried to evacuate the civilians from the town, while Sif and the Warriors Three fought The Destroyer in order to buy some time for the evacuation. Sif almost defeated the armor climbing to its back and stabbing her sword through its neck, a feat referenced by Coulson when meeting Sif again years later. Despite their power, the Asgardians were no match for the armor, and it continued to destroy the city while looking for Thor.

Thor, knowing the intentions of the Destroyer, sacrificed himself before it, pleading Loki to stop the attacks in order to save his friends and the other innocent people. This act proved his worthiness, and Mjølnir flew back to his hand, healing his injuries and restoring his power. With his strength and powers restored, Thor battled the Destroyer and managed to defeat it, rendering it useless and leaving it behind in Puente Antiguo.

Coulson arrived and tried to talk to Thor, who assure him that they fighting for the same cause, protecting the world, and they could count him as an ally if they return Foster's research, something Coulson agreed, as S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted Foster to continue her research given the recent events.

They all arrived to the Bifrost site in the desert, but Heimdall, having been frozen by Loki, was unable to open the bridge, until he managed to break the ice he was encased into and kill the Frost Giants left to guard the Bifrost Bridge. Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three then departed back to Asgard, not without Thor promising Foster to come back for her.

Foster, saddened with Thor's departure, continued her research to look for him, this time with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s full support.

Battle at Cybertek
Cybertek created a facility in New Mexico that the United States Armed Forces was invited to tour by Ian Quinn in order to get a government contact for the creation of Deathlok Soldiers. John Garrett interrupted the tour and killed General Jacobs.

Coulson's Team invaded the facility and ultimately arrested Grant Ward, freed Ace Peterson, and killed Garrett.