Thor: Ragnarok

"You cannot stop Ragnarök. Why fight it?" "Because that's what heroes do!"

- Surtur and Thor

Thor: Ragnarok is a 2017 superhero film, based on the Marvel Comics superhero of the same name. It is a sequel to Thor, Thor: The Dark World, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Doctor Strange and is the seventeenth installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as the fifth installment of Phase Three. It was released on October 24, 2017 internationally and on November 3, 2017 in the United States.

The film is directed by Taika Waititi and stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Cate Blanchett as Hela, Idris Elba as Heimdall, Jeff Goldblum as the Grandmaster, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Karl Urban as Skurge, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk and Anthony Hopkins as Odin.

Synopsis
Thor's world is about to explode in Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok. His devious brother, Loki, has taken over Asgard, the powerful Hela has emerged to steal the throne for herself and Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe. To escape captivity and save his home from imminent destruction, Thor must first win a deadly alien contest by defeating his former ally and fellow Avenger... The Incredible Hulk!

Plot
Thor has been captured by mysterious enemy forces on Muspelheim. He rambles toward a skeleton sharing his cage about his efforts to defeat some robots on Earth, and laments about his inability to find any of the Infinity Stones he had set out to locate. He notes that sometimes you have to get captured in order to get a straight answer out of someone (the someone in this instance being Surtur). Surtur releases Thor from his cage, chained and dangling, and taunts him with the knowledge of Odin no longer being on Asgard, also mentioning that Thor's absence has left it vulnerable. He announces that Ragnarok is coming to Asgard by his hand, and that all he must do to achieve this is to join his crown with the Eternal Flame, which burns in Odin's Vault. Thor takes the cue to call Mjolnir, break out of his chains, and fight off Surtur's minions before taking his crown as a trophy. When he attempts to return to Asgard, however, Heimdall does not respond. His replacement, Skurge, only notices Thor's call when one of the women he is trying to impress points it out. Returning to Asgard for the first time in years, Thor is told by Skurge that Heimdall has been declared an enemy of the people and is on the run. Thor is unimpressed and goes to find Odin, who is watching a play about the valiant death of Loki, whilst laying about and being pampered by various women. Thor sees through "Odin's" deception and forces Loki to drop the charade. After ordering for Surtur's crown to be delivered to Odin's Vault, Thor has Skurge transport him and Loki to Earth to find the real Odin. Unfortunately, upon arrival, Thor and Loki quickly discover that the retirement home Loki had placed Odin in has been demolished. At this point, some passerbys reveal that Jane Foster has broken up with Thor (although Thor insists to them that it was a 'mutual dumping').

Suddenly, Loki is snatched away, leaving a mysterious address card behind, pointing Thor toward Bleecker Street. Here, he finds Doctor Strange, who insists on knowing why Loki has been brought back to Earth. Thor explains that they are simply trying to find Odin and will immediately leave as soon as he is retrieved. Strange reveals that he knows of Odin’s whereabouts (Norway, incidentally), but notes that Odin asked not to be disturbed. Nevertheless, he sends Thor and Loki to him.

Thor and Loki find Odin, having shaken off Loki’s spell, but he is despondent and dying. In his last moments, Odin makes a confession - Hela, the sister Thor and Loki never knew they had (and the Goddess of Death) will be released from her prison once he dies. She is far more powerful than her brothers and will grow stronger when she returns to the fires of Asgard. Odin tells his sons he loves them one last time, before transforming into energy and dying.

Thor becomes enraged at Loki, blaming him for Odin’s death (his life expectancy having been presumably shortened during his time on Earth), but a black mass forms in the air and Hela emerges from her prison. When the brothers refuse to kneel to her, Hela attacks them (she appears to be able to summon any sort of blade/spear-based weapons from thin air, in quick successions). Thor throws Mjolnir toward her, but she easily catches it with one hand and shatters it. Loki panics and calls for the Bifrost. However, during their transport, Hela intercepts them and forces both Loki and Thor out of the beam. Volstagg and Fandral, awaiting inside of the Bifrost dome, are killed almost immediately as Hela arrives. Skurge, present only because he has been given janitorial duty, is recruited to her side as Hela sets her eyes on the kingdom.

Meanwhile, we find Thor, deposited on an alien planet covered in junk: Sakaar. There are portals and wormholes of different shapes and sizes all across the sky, from which junk and debris from other worlds fall through to the surface. Thor is approached by hostile scavengers, who he manages to fight off without Mjolnir until one of the scavengers uses an electrified net to capture him. The scavengers proceed to beat Thor until a spaceship lands near them. From within, a drunk woman appears, claiming Thor to be "hers." The woman kills the scavengers with her ship's guns, seemingly rescuing Thor. Unfortunately, she ends up throwing a small disc at his neck, allowing her to electrocute and render him unconscious at the push of a button. With the disc connected to his neck preventing him from escaping, the woman takes Thor onto her ship.

Back on Asgard, the Asgardian army, led by Hogun, has assembled to stop Hela from entering the kingdom. After refusing to kneel to their new queen, Hela makes quick work of the entire fleet, impaling the soldiers and ships alike with her endless arsenal of swords and spears, finishing off with Hogun, who gets a large spear sent through his chest. She takes the throne and destroys the royal mural above it, revealing the original hidden behind. It's revealed that she had always been Odin's most powerful weapon in his efforts to create the mighty Asgardian empire, and that only when her ambition outgrew his did he imprison her.

Hela breaks into Odin’s Vault, declaring the Infinity Gauntlet as fake, the Casket of Ancient Winters as weak, and Surtur's crown 'smaller than she thought.’ She becomes briefly interested in the Tesseract, but declares the Eternal Flame the greatest of all. She smashes through the floor, revealing the mausoleum beneath. With the power of the Eternal Flame, Hela revives the fallen Asgardian soldiers from her time, along with her massive pet, the Fenris Wolf. While sitting in her throne, Hela notes that when Odin was king, she was his executioner, and that now she is queen, Skurge is her executioner. Meanwhile, Heimdall sneaks into the Bifrost dome and steals the sword, rendering the Bifrost useless. It’s revealed that Heimdall has been slowly organizing a resistance against Hela. Without the sword, Hela’s cannot complete her conquest of all the realms, and she sends her soldiers to hunt down this resistance. Thor awakens to a holographic presentation about Sakaar and the Grandmaster, the ruler of the planet and host of the gladiatorial Contest of Champions. The Grandmaster pays the drunk woman from earlier and obtains Thor, whom he decides to pit against his "champion" during a match. He states that Thor will earn his freedom, should he be the victor. Still restrained, Thor discovers Loki, who is mingling and getting on with the Grandmaster and his company quite well. Due to the unusual relativistic effects of how they both arrived, and the planet in general, Loki has been there for weeks, earning the Grandmaster's favor. Thor is thrown in to the gladiator's quarters where he meets Korg, an exiled Kronan resistance fighter, and his friend Miek. Korg states that no one has ever escaped or beaten this champion. Thor is prepared to fight this man, having his hair cut by someone strangely familiar and choosing his weapons. He finds the woman there who he recognizes as an Asgardian Valkyrie. When she is unsympathetic to the plight of her home, he calls her a coward before being forced to go out and fight.

The champion is revealed to be the Hulk. Thor, overjoyed at seeing his former teammate, attempts to talk as well as negotiate with him but makes the mistake of calling him 'Banner'. He even tries Black Widow's calming technique but it fails to work. Hulk overpowers him during the battle and is close to killing him but Thor sees a vision of his father causing his powers to surge. As the fight continues, the tables have turned and Thor is winning but the Grandmaster, unwilling to see Hulk lose since he is a fan favorite, cheats and "fixes" the fight by activating the disc on Thor's neck.

Thor awakened in a luxurious quarters with Hulk. Hulk refuses to return Earth because he believes he is hated there and therefore will not leave. He is shown to be friends and sparring partners with Valkyrie but agrees to trick her into coming to his quarters so Thor can steal her control device and remove the disc from his neck. Thor tries to get to the Quinjet that brought Hulk to Sakaar but Hulk damages it, not wanting to leave. It is only when Thor accidentally activates a recording of Natasha's attempts to get Hulk to turn the Quinjet around that Hulk is pacified and transforms back to Bruce Banner himself. Banner has been in Hulk form since Sokovia and, as a result, the Hulk had completely taken over. Because of this, Banner was powerless and does not remember anything that has happened for the past two years since. He fears that if he becomes the Hulk again, Banner will be gone forever. The Grandmaster orders Valkyrie and Loki to track Thor and Banner down. Valkyrie finds them but agrees to help, having knocked out Loki after he made her see a vision of herself and her sisters falling at Hela's hands millennia ago when she was the only survivor which caused her to turn to drink in misery on Sakaar. Loki, not wanting to be stuck on Sakaar, tells Thor he has the Grandmaster's security codes which give him control over his systems. Heimdall has told Thor that they need to go through the largest portal in the sky (which has the unfortunate nickname 'The Devil's Anus') to escape but Valkyrie's ship is not up to the job. They break Korg and Miek out so they can begin a slave revolt as a distraction so they can steal the Grandmaster's personal ship.

Back on Asgard, Skurge has civilians rounded up to demand the location of the sword. When nobody would speak, Hela tells him to execute a randomly chosen woman, though Skurge seems to be uncomfortable with this. Just before he can do so, a civilian agrees to tell Hela what she wants to know rather than see an innocent put to death.

Loki, inevitably, betrays them as they are escaping but Thor quietly placed one of the discs on his back, leaving him being shocked on the floor. Thor tells his brother that he knows Loki will always be the God of Mischief, but had hoped that he would have shown some capacity for growth before leaving (with Loki still being shocked and the remote intentionally left out of reach). However, Korg arrives with a group of slaves and turns off the device later. Loki takes leadership of the group and steals a large ship with them.

Thor, Valkyrie and Banner arrived on Asgard. Hela begins an assault on the fortress where Heimdall is hiding the Asgardian civilians but Thor calls her back to the throne room to fight. Banner and Valkyrie fight to help the civilians escape via the Bifrost but they are cut off from behind by the undead army and in front by the enormous Fenris. Despite knowing he may never turn back, Banner jumps off the ship and is splayed on the Bifrost in front of Fenris, failing to transform himself. As Fenris lunges towards the Asgardians, Banner transforms into the Hulk seconds later to fight Fenris and Loki arrives with Korg and his Sakaaran allies. Thor is overpowered by Hela who strikes him across the face, cutting out his right eye. She is too much for him and once again Thor has a vision of his father, who tells him that Asgard is not a place, it is a people. Thor states he cannot defeat Hela without Mjølnir, but Odin reminds Thor that he is not a god of hammers, that Mjolnir was only ever a focus for his powers and they are greater than Odin's.

With his powers in full force, Thor manages to resist Hela and carves through her army but he realizes she is still too much for him. He and Loki agree that as long as Asgard exists she will grow more powerful. The prophecy says that in order for Ragnarok to happen, Asgard must fall and it is their place to ensure it, not to stop it. Thor and Valkyrie hold her off while Loki goes to the trophy room to retrieve Surtur's crown, noticing the Tesseract along the way (and presumably stealing it). Loki places the crown in the eternal flame of Asgard, allowing Surtur to be reborn. The now more powerful Surtur begins laying waste to Asgard and even Hela is unable to stop him. She tries to stop the ship carrying the Asgardian refugees and the Sakaaran slaves from leaving but Skurge, who has sneaked aboard in disguise, betrays her and killed the rest of her soldiers before she kills him. Hela, having been distracted by Surtur, is knocked off the bridge by Thor. Hulk attacks Surtur but Thor calls him off. He carries Thor and Valkyrie aboard the ship, which escapes. Hela suddenly emerges from the water and begins to impale Surtur, who kills her once and for all. Asgard is utterly destroyed, killing Surtur and leaving only asteroids behind. Thor understands now that the destruction of his home was inevitable, and that Asgard still exists but now in its people.

Thor begins wearing an eyepatch, similar to the one worn by his father. He thanks Loki for returning for him, and the two brothers finally reconcile. Thor then goes to the bridge and, with the surviving Asgardians watching on, takes the 'throne' (really the captain's chair) and assumes his birthright as king of Asgard. With Loki, Hulk, Heimdall, Valkyrie, Korg and Miek by his side, the new king decides to set a course for Earth.

In a post-credits scene, Loki asks Thor whether he will be welcome on Earth after the Battle of New York, and Thor assures that he will be. Thor is sure that everything will be fine until a much, much larger ship appears behind them. In the second post-credits scene, the Grandmaster is faced down by the slaves he had previously been a master of, tries to declare a revolting draw, but they are not impressed.

Cast

 * Chris Hemsworth as Thor / Hajo
 * Tom Hiddleston as Loki
 * Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk
 * Cate Blanchett as Hela
 * Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie
 * Idris Elba as Heimdall
 * Anthony Hopkins as Odin / Loki (disguise)
 * Karl Urban as Skurge/Executioner
 * Jeff Goldblum as Grandmaster
 * Ray Stevenson as Volstagg
 * Zachary Levi as Fandral
 * Tadanobu Asano as Hogun
 * Rachel House as Topaz
 * Cohen Holloway as Lead Scrapper
 * Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange
 * Taika Waititi as Korg / Hajo / Surtur (motion capture)
 * Clancy Brown as Surtur (voice)
 * Steven Oliver as Cousin Carlo
 * Luke Hemsworth as Thor (Fiction)
 * Sam Neill as Odin (Fiction)
 * Matt Damon as Loki (Fiction)
 * Charlotte Nicdao as Sif (Fiction)
 * Gabby Carbon as Jane Foster (Fiction)
 * Stan Lee as Sakaaran Barber
 * Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (stock footage)
 * Shane Rangi as Hajo
 * Ryan Tarran as Roscoe
 * Unknown Actor as Miek
 * Unknown Actor as Biff
 * Unknown Actor as Doug
 * Unknown Actor as Tasba
 * Unknown Actor as Fandral (Fiction)
 * Unknown Actor as Hogun (Fiction)
 * Unknown Actor as Volstagg (Fiction)

Locations

 * Muspelheim
 * Surtur's Lair
 * Asgard
 * Asgardian Palace
 * Asgardian Theater
 * Odin's Vault
 * Asgardian Catacombs
 * Hidden Stronghold
 * Rainbow Bridge
 * Heimdall's Observatory
 * Earth
 * New York City, New York
 * Shady Acres Care Home (ruins)
 * New York Sanctum
 * Norway
 * Texas (mentioned)
 * Novi Grad, Sokovia (mentioned)
 * Sakaar
 * Sakaar City
 * Grandmaster Palace
 * Sakaaran Arena
 * Devil's Anus
 * Niflheim (flashback)
 * Hel (flashback)
 * Vanaheim (mentioned)
 * Svartalfheim (mentioned, play)
 * Nidavellir (indirectly mentioned)
 * Xandar (mentioned)
 * Valhalla (mentioned)

Events

 * Escape from Muspelheim
 * Siege of Asgard
 * Contest of Champions
 * Duel in the Sakaaran Arena
 * Escape from Sakaar
 * Ragnarök
 * Duel in the Asgardian Palace
 * Battle of the Rainbow Bridge
 * Destruction of Asgard
 * Attack on the Statesman
 * Subjugation of the Nine Realms (mentioned)
 * Massacre of the Valkyrie  (flashback)
 * Battle of New York (indirectly mentioned)
 * Battle of Vanaheim (mentioned)
 * Battle of Greenwich (indirectly mentioned)
 * Convergence (mentioned)
 * Battle of Sokovia (mentioned)

Items

 * Mjølnir
 * Crown of Surtur
 * Twilight Sword
 * Bifrost Bridge
 * Hofund
 * The Tragedy of Loki of Asgard
 * Des and Troy
 * Eternal Flame
 * Casket of Ancient Winters
 * Tesseract
 * Cloak of Levitation
 * Eye of Agamotto
 * Sling Ring
 * Daggers of Daveroth
 * Crimson Bands of Cyttorak
 * Necroswords
 * Bloodaxe
 * Volstagg's Axe
 * Fimbuldraugr
 * Hridgandr
 * Units
 * Magno Rifle
 * Obedience Disk
 * Melt Stick
 * Retractable Sword
 * Sakaaran Laser Rifles
 * Sakaaran Mace and Shield
 * Collapsible Helmet
 * Sakaaran War Hammer
 * Sakaaran Battle Axe
 * Tuning Fork
 * Dragonfang
 * Valkyrie's Armor
 * Asgardian Blasters
 * Gungnir
 * Infinity Gauntlet (fake replica)
 * Ultron Sentries (mentioned)
 * Ultron Sentries (mentioned)

Vehicles

 * Quinjet
 * Commodore
 * Warsong
 * Statesman
 * Turano
 * Escort
 * Kingswood
 * Asgardian Skiffs
 * Sanctuary II

Sentient Species

 * Asgardians
 * Frost Giants
 * Humans
 * Kronans
 * Sakaarans
 * Vanir
 * Fire Demons
 * Dark Elves (mentioned)
 * Vampires (mentioned)

Creatures

 * Asgardian Wolves
 * Fenris
 * Valkyries Steeds
 * Berserkers
 * Fire Dragons
 * (mentioned)
 * (mentioned)

Organizations

 * Asgardian Royal Family
 * Revengers
 * Masters of the Mystic Arts
 * Warriors Three
 * Einherjar
 * Sakaaran Guards
 * Sakaaran Scrappers
 * Sakaaran Rebellion
 * Valkyries (flashback)
 * Avengers (mentioned)

Mentioned

 * Beta Ray Bill (sculpture)
 * Ares (sculpture)
 * Man-Thing (sculpture)
 * Bi-Beast (sculpture)
 * Dark-Crawler (sculpture)
 * Jane Foster
 * Tony Stark
 * Ultron
 * Malekith
 * Sif
 * Bruce Banner's Father (deleted scene)
 * Skurge's Father
 * Skurge's Mother
 * Korg's Mother
 * Korg's Stepfather
 * Frigga (fresco)
 * Laufey (fresco)
 *  (deleted scene)
 *  (deleted scene)

Production
In January 2014, Variety reported that and Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost will be writing the screenplay for Thor: Ragnarok. Kevin Feige will be returning to produce and Chris Hemsworth will be returning in the title role.

On October 2, 2015, Taika Waititi signed to direct the movie. Other candidates at the direction of the movie were, and.

On February 25, 2016, Stellan Skarsgård confirmed that he will not have reprised the role of Dr. Erik Selvig in the movie. On April 11 Natalie Portman was also confirmed to not come back for the sequel, while Tessa Thompson joined the cast as Thor's new romantic interest.

On May 20, Marvel.com reported that Karl Urban and Jeff Goldblum have joined the cast. Cate Blanchett and Tessa Thompson were confirmed to be playing the major villain Hela and the hero Valkyrie respectively, while Anthony Hopkins and Idris Elba reprised their previous roles.

Principal photography started on July 4, 2016, in Queensland, Australia. The working title for the film was "Creature Report".

On July 23, 2016, at San Diego Comic-Con, Hulk's gladiator armor was revealed, along with the first piece of footage, showing Thor's and Hulk's whereabouts.

On August 4, Mark Ruffalo officially finished shooting his scenes.

Music

 * Thor: Ragnarok - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack