Thor's primary objective in Thor: Ragnarok will be stopping Hela, the Asgardian goddess of death, from unleashing the apocalyptic event known as Ragnarok. But during the upcoming Marvel movie, the God of Thunder's mission will be delayed when when he's struggling to survive on Sakaar, the gladiatorial planet ruled over by Jeff Goldblum's Grandmaster. Just like in the comics, the MCU's Grandmaster is a being of prestige and influence, but a new toy suggests that he could be even more important to this universe due to possibly being a Celestial.
Thor: Ragnarok's is a little over two months away from hitting theaters, so marketing and promotion is in full swing, and that includes toys being made available for purchase. One of the many Thor: Ragnarok toys that are now on sale (via ToyWiz) is a Funko Mystery Minifigure of The Grandmaster, though this one is colored entirely yellow. However, the description of the figurine has "Celestial" written in parenthesis. While the normal Grandmaster figure from the same Funko line doesn't have "Celestial" in its name, the use of that term at all is intriguing given its importance to the cosmic Marvel mythology.
Like their comic book counterparts, the MCU's Celestials are among the oldest beings in the universe. They were first seen in Guardians of the Galaxy when Taneleer Tivan, a.k.a. The Collector, explained the origin of the Infinity Stones. The severed head of a dead Celestial was also used to house the intergalactic hub known as Knowhere. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 later revealed that Peter Quill's father, Ego the Living Planet, was a Celestial, making Peter half-Celestial. It's important to note that in the comics, both The Collector and The Grandmaster are Elders of the Universe, another branch of ancient Marvel beings. Still, should the MCU's Grandmaster end up being a Celestial, this wouldn't be the first time the franchise has adjusted a character's background to fit its special mythos.
The main issue with Grandmaster being a Celestial is that he isn't an imposing figure like the few Celestials we've seen so far. Even though Ego was primarily represented by a humanoid avatar in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, his true form was an entire planet. Jeff Goldblum's Grandmaster may be powerful (one would imagine he has to be in order to effectively control a planet full of mighty warriors), but the Thor: Ragnarok previews haven't indicated that his true form is something gigantic. However, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about the MCU's Celestials, so for all we know, the few surviving ones could have found a way to disguise themselves as regular-sized humanoids, albeit differently than how Ego conjured his avatars. It's also possible that like Peter Quill, Grandmaster is only partially Celestial, which would still make him a formidable threat to anyone who disturbs his games.
Whether he's a Celestial, an Elder of the Universe or something else entirely, we'll learn more about The Grandmaster when Thor: Ragnarok is released in theaters on November 3.
