Outside of his cameo in Doctor Strange, Thor has been absent from the Marvel Cinematic Universe since he departed Earth at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron. This fall, he'll return to the forefront in Thor: Ragnarok, which looks to be his busiest adventure yet. While it's common knowledge that Thor will be back a little over half a year later for Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has alluded that the events of Thor: Ragnarok will somehow lead into what goes down in Earth's Mightiest Heroes' third movie. When asked about if Thor: Ragnarok marks the end of the Thor trilogy, Feige responded:
I think that we are finding ourselves as we complete Phase 3 and finish this 22-movie narrative that it's working out that way. We did three Iron Man films, three Captain America films, three Thor films. Things change drastically in Ragnarok and then build directly into Infinity War.
Hearing that Thor: Ragnarok wraps up the Thor series isn't incredibly shocking since Marvel is fond of trilogies, as evidenced with Iron Man and Captain America, as well as looking ahead with what's planned for Guardians of the Galaxy and Spider-Man. What is interesting is Feige's hint to The Toronto Sun about the aftermath of Thor: Ragnarok playing into Avengers: Infinity War. The third Thor movie will see the God of Thunder and his allies trying to prevent Hela from unleashing Ragnarok to destroy Asgardian civilization, and while we don't know yet if they'll be successful with this mission, we at least know that Thor will make it out alive to aid the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy and others in fighting Thanos. The question now is aside from Thor himself, how can Ragnarok pave the way for Infinity War?
The easiest answer to this question likely lies through cosmic connections between the two movies. Thor: Ragnarok will primarily deal with Thor battling Hela and her forces and surviving on the planet Sakaar, but once the main events have concluded, it's possible that we could see a cameo from Thanos, who hasn't appeared since Avengers: Age of Ultron. If Asgard ends up being destroyed, the Mad Titan would no doubt use that opportunity to retrieve the Tesseract, a.k.a. the Space Stone, for himself since it's now unprotected. Let's also not forget that the sixth Infinity Stone still hasn't been revealed yet, so there's a chance it could finally pop up in Thor: Ragnarok. Regardless, with Black Panther set on Earth and dealing with the hero's troubles in Wakanda, it's fitting that Thor: Ragnarok will be used to lay important cosmic foundation for Avengers: Infinity War, which promises to be Marvel's biggest event yet.
Thor: Ragnarok storms into theaters on November 3. You can also check out what other Marvel movies are coming down the pipeline.
