Thor's been taking a breather from the Marvel Cinematic Universe craziness since the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, but it looks like he's finally done chilling out with his roommate Darryl and ready to jump back into action. After cameoing in Doctor Strange last year, the God of Thunder will make his full grand return in November's Thor: Ragnarok, and we finally have our first look at what the main protagonist and two of the other major characters will look like.
After six years in the MCU, Thor's finally decided to get a haircut. Actually, since he's 1,000 years old (give or take), this may be the first haircut he's had in centuries. This photo from EW shows our favorite God of Thunder ready for battle in his third solo movie, this time wielding two swords instead of his trusty hammer, Mjolnir. Standing alongside him are Cate Blanchett's Hela, Thor: Ragnarok's main antagonist, and Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie, one of Thor's new allies. Both look much different from their comic book counterparts, but the MCU is known for taking creative liberties with character appearances. Fortunately, they still look cool, and at least Hela is rocking the green.
Thor's short hair might take getting used to for some moviegoers, but it was a relief for Chris Hemsworth, who was finally glad to not have to deal with having those long blonde locks anymore. He said:
It was nice not to have to sit in the makeup chair for that hour each morning. It felt like a rebirth for me as the actor but also as the character.
To be fair, the circumstances Thor will find himself in later this year are nothing like that he's dealt with before. At some point during Thor: Ragnarok, the Asgardian will find himself trapped on the planet Sakaar, where he'll have to survive in the gladiator ring overseen by Jeff Goldblum's Grandmaster. His opponent: The Hulk, his former Avengers teammate. We don't know yet how Hulk ended up on Sakaar or why he's willingly fighting his superhero buddy (mind control, some kind of coercion, etc), but those two will be going mano a mano for a bit. Thor's short hair is a good reflection of the dire circumstances he's found himself in. Oh sure, maybe he got the haircut while re-visiting Asgard, but considering that Thor: Ragnarok is following up on the Doctor Strange mid-credits scene, where Thor and Stephen Strange set out to look for Odin, it's likelier that Thor's new hairdo will come later on.
Directed by Taika Waititi and written by Eric Pearson, Thor: Ragnarok storms into theaters on November 3. Let us know what you think about the above photo in the comments below.
