MCU: 10 Ways Thor Changed Throughout The Movies

Thor has easily become many people’s favorite Avenger, even if he didn’t originally start out that way. Thor has changed a lot as a character over the course of the MCU and has gone through significant developments, especially in his last three film appearances alone.

Some of the changes have been minor and others major. One thing is for certain, he is a much different character than when he first appeared in Thor back in 2011.

10 He Lost An Eye

Thor has gone through a lot of physical changes in the MCU and one of the most interesting being the loss of his eye. During his battle against Hela in Thor: Ragnarok, Thor has his right eye slashed out. At the end of the movie, he’s sporting an eyepatch making him look very similar to his father, Odin. The following year, during Avenger: Infinity War, he receives a replacement eye from Rocket with the only noticeable difference between the two being that his new eye is hazel as opposed to his natural iris color of blue.

9 He Lost His Family

One of the saddest and most beautiful moments in the MCU was Frigga’s funeral in Thor: The Dark World after she was killed while attempting to protect Jane Foster. When he lost his mother, Thor was devastated but unfortunately, she was only the first of the many friends and family that he would lose. Odin faded away in Ragnarok, The Warriors 3 were killed almost instantly by Hela upon her arrival, Thor was forced to kill his sister in order to save his people, Loki was killed at the hand of Thanos during the opening scene of Infinity War and to make matters worse during the same scene, he also loses Heimdall. With all the loss he has experienced, it’s surprising that he has somehow managed to continue to fight.

8 He Got A New Weapon

Another devastating moment for Thor was when his hammer, Mjolnir, was destroyed by Hela in Ragnarok. Although he learned the lesson that he didn’t need a hammer since his power was already apart of him, it is always better to have a weapon of some sort.

After realizing that he would need a new weapon in order to even stand a chance at defeating Thanos in Infinity War, He, Rocket, and Groot travel to have the ax called “Stormbreaker” forged, leading to the epic scene which sees the God of Thunder take on the full force of a dying star in order to form the metal and the wooden handle being provided by Groot.

7 He Upgraded

Something Ragnarok did better than the other Thor movies was give him a strong arc. Throughout the film he struggles with his abilities after losing Mjolnir. After a touching scene in which Odin comes to him in a vision and asks if he’s the “God of Hammers”, he realizes that his strength didn’t come from his weapon but from inside him. The display of his true strength comes during the epic fight on the rainbow bridge in which he completely demolishes Hela’s army of the dead without any tool aiding him.

6 He Gained Weight

When the Avengers decided in Endgame that they were going to need to put the team back together in order to properly pull off the time heist to retrieve the Infinity Stones from the past, Rocket and Hulk were tasked with traveling to New Asgard to retrieve him. However, they quickly notice that he’s gained a significant amount of weight over the 5-year gap likely due to all the beer he had been drinking. Thor’s weight gain, despite being the source of some of the film’s comedy, was used as a physical representation of the character’s depression and guilt that came after feeling the effects of Thanos’ snap.

5 He Broke Up With Jane

The first and second Thor movies put part of the focus on the relationship between Thor and Jane, so it was surprising that the character was completely absent in Ragnarok, with Thor saying that they’ve broken up off-screen. It even became a joke during a scene in Endgame in which Thor is discussing during the events of Thor: The Dark World and extracting the Aether from Jane. Jane has been confirmed to return in Thor: Love and Thunder as the Mighty Thor, so there is a chance we will see the relationship rekindled.

4 He Got Funnier

Although the first two Thor movies had their share of comedic moments, lots of the comedy from the first film coming from him being a fish-out-of-water on Earth, trying to adapt and understand human customs and the second had the majority of the comedic beats coming from characters like Darcy and Selvig. After seeing the lackluster fan reception to those films, Marvel decided to take him in a new direction.

Thanks to Taika Waititi’s more improvisational comedic style, the character was way more humorous in Ragnarok, making it more similar in tone to Guardians of the Galaxy which is likely why he blended so seamlessly with those characters in Avengers: Infinity War.

3 He Moved

In Ragnarok, Thor realized that the only way to save Asgard from Hela was to destroy it, which meant saying goodbye to the realm forever. In the end, Thor learns that the physical location wasn’t what was important but rather the people that made it up. The film ends with the citizens boarding a ship in order to escape the destruction and heading off in the direction of Earth.

In Endgame, Thor has established New Asgard on Earth in Tønsberg, Norway. Despite the move being unplanned, the new location for the Asgardian’s home wasn’t chosen at random. Often regarded as the oldest town in Norway, Tønsberg has played a role in the MCU before with it being the location where the Frost Giants arrived centuries ago and is also where Odin spent his final moments before his death.

2 He Joined the Guardians

At the end of Endgame, after a heartfelt goodbye in which he appoints Valkyrie to the mantle on King of New Asgard, Thor boards the Benatar with the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Ever since audiences saw him interact with the team in Infinity War, they have been asking for more and the ending of the Endgame, especially Thor referring to them as the Asgardians of the Galaxy, seemingly confirms that will be in Phase 4 of the MCU. While it is unclear how long Thor will be a member for, some of Guardians have even been confirmed to show up in his 4th solo movie, Thor: Love and Thunder.

1 He Cut His Hair

Thor’s long golden hair had become a staple of the character, so it was surprising when, like many things in Ragnarok, he was forced to give it up. Before his gladiatorial match on Sakaar, he was ordered by the Grandmaster to have his hair cut in a hilarious scene featuring one of Stan Lee’s funniest cameos as Thor’s barber with a metal hand made of varying blades. While the end result ended up looking pretty good, Thor later allowed his hair to get long again during the Blip, so it is unclear if he would return to the look going forward.

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