It’s been over 10 years since Iron Man first came out in 2008 to lay the foundation for MCU, and it’s going strong with 16 movies already released, Thor Ragnarok will be the 17th. The task of tracking timelines of movies is a pretty messy affair.
Recently, Marvel producer Brad Winderbaum had an interview with Screen Rant and he was asked about where does Ragnarok fits into the overall timeline of MCU. His answer was not convincing and in fact conflicting with a statement about previous movies. He said:
“It’s not like, five minutes after Ultron ends we start this movie. It’s a couple years later… This movie takes place basically…You know, it’s hard. In the timeline of the MCU, things kind of happen on top of each other, especially now in Phase Three. They’re not as interlocked as they were in Phase One, you know, during Fury’s Big Week and everything. So Thor: Ragnarok happens maybe on top of Civil War, on top of Spider-Man Homecoming. Somewhere in that park.”
Brad agrees that it’s hard to establish the timeline for MCU movies at this point. The Russo brothers have said that the Thor: Ragnarok takes place after 2 years of Age of Ultron. But Spiderman: Homecoming took place after the events of Civil War, so that makes little sense.
Recently, a picture was released which pointed to the possibility of Dr. Strange showing up in the movie. It was confirmed in the post-credits scene of Doctor Strange that Dr. Strange will help Thor in Ragnarok. It seems Thor will travel to Sanctum Santorum in Greenwich Village, New York to learn more about Infinity stones. It is also possible that he needs to know how to travel through realms something which Dr. Strange has mastered through magic and mystical arts. So the question is how long has Doctor Strange been “Sorcerer Supreme” when Thor and Loki come to him looking for Odin. Further, in the Japanese trailer of Thor: Ragnarok, we see Dr. Strange and he is issuing a dire warning to Thor. He said: “Thor, I sense a great change in your future. Destiny has dire plans for you, my friend, to which Thor responds, I have dire plans for destiny.”
Here’s the official synopsis of the movie:
“Imprisoned on the other side of the universe, the mighty Thor finds himself in a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against the Hulk, his former ally and fellow Avenger. Thor’s quest for survival leads him in a race against time to prevent the all-powerful Hela from destroying his home world and the Asgardian civilization”.
The main cast includes Chris Hemsworth (Thor, God of Thunder), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Anthony Hopkins (Odin) and Idris Elba (Heimdall) who are set to reprise their roles. The ensemble cast includes big names such as two-time Oscar award winner Cate Blanchett (Queen Elizabeth, Blue Jasmine, Carol etc) as the powerful new villain Hela (leader of Doomeo i.e Asgardian Hell); Jeff Goldblum (Independence Day, Jurassic Park) as the eccentric grandmaster who is an elder of the universe, he is sometimes called as “Inter-galactic Cosmic Pleasure-seeker”, he possessed the mind-gem until Thanos took it away from him; Tessa Thomson (Creed, Selma) as the classic hero Valkyrie who may play Thor’s love interest; Karl Urban (Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Star Trek trilogy) as Skurge who is a powerful warrior and Mark Ruffalo (Avengers, Foxcatcher, Spotlight) as Bruce Banner/ Hulk.
The movie will be more action packed and it will also be the shortest ever Marvel movie. In continuing with the traditions of Thor movies, Kenneth Branagh’s Thor was 114 minutes, Alan Taylor’s Thor: The Dark World was 112 minutes long but Thor: Ragnarok will just have 100 minutes runtime. Taika Waititi said to Collider:
“The cut right now, I reckon it’s about 100 minutes. It’s not gonna be a very, very long film. I think that stories are better when you leave them wanting more, and this film moves at a clip, it’s got stuff happening all the time. I think people are still gonna feel exhausted by the end; they’ve been on this big journey and stuff, so I don’t think we need the film to be three hours”.
The movie is inspired by Jack Kirby’s Ragnarok comic wherein Asgard is burned to the ground and rebuilt from the ashes. Thor will confront an empowered Loki who has gained absolute control of Asgard while he was busy fighting Ultron and forces of Hela who command legions of the dead. He must defeat them to pave the way for a rebirth of Asgardian society. One fan aptly described the movie as “The way Winter Soldier was for Captain America, Ragnarok is for Thor.” From the look and feel of it, it seems there are all the ingredients present in the movie to become a huge blockbuster. The movie will hit theatres on November 3, 2017.
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