Thor's been taking a breather from the Marvel Cinematic Universe after fighting alongside Earth's Mightiest Heroes in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but now that he's had enough quality time with his roommate Darryl and popped in for Doctor Strange's mid-credits scene, he's ready to jump back into action later this year in Thor: Ragnarok. From what we've seen so far in reports, images and concept art, this looks like it will be the God of Thunder's craziest adventure yet, as he'll be facing off against Hela, Skurge, Grandmaster, Surtur and even his old buddy The Hulk!
With eight months to go until Thor: Ragnarok's release, there's still a lot of unanswered questions about what to expect from the third Thor installment, although if Marvel's past trailer releases schedule is any indication, hopefully the first footage will drop in the next two-three months. In the meantime, speculation runs rampant, and one of the ideas fans have thrown out is if Thor might lose his arm. It appeared as if that happened in 2013's Thor: The Dark World, but that was later revealed to be one of Loki's illusions. Could it happen for real this time? Let's go over the likelihood.
Why It Might Happen
There's certainly precedence for Thor losing his arm in the comics. For instance, there's an alternate universe, older version of Thor nicknamed "Old King Thor" who lost his arm in battle and had it replaced with a prothesis made from the Destroyer armor. In the main Marvel continuity, Thor lost his arm in 2003's Thor Vol. 2 #67, but that loss was later undone when years later, the God of Thunder traveled back in time to undo Asgard's destruction and prevent himself from ever going down a tyrannical path. Finally, in 2014's Thor Vol. 4 #1, Thor's arm was cut off by Malekith the Dark Elf, who was using the mystical axe Jarnbjorn. That was not a good period in the God of Thunder's life, as shortly beforehand, he'd been declared unworthy and lost Mjolnir. As of early 2017, Thor is still lacking his regular appendage and is using a Black Uru-forged prothesis.
As for why Thor: Ragnarok might do it, we know for a fact that during the movie, Thor be separated from Mjolnir. He'll still have his amazing, "god-like" powers, but for a while he won't be swinging around his trusty hammer. The initial reason for Thor losing Mjolnir won't be due to any severing, as some Ragnarok photos that have been released showing Chris Hemsworth in the Sakaar setting of the movie, and both his hands are in tip-top shape. That said, let's not forget that Avengers: Infinity War concept art showed Thor wielding an axe alongside Rocket Raccoon, not Mjolnir. While his right arm looks normal in that piece of artwork, we don't fully see his left arm. Perhaps something occurs in Thor: Ragnarok's finale that leads Thor to both lose his arm and his connection to Mjolnir. Since this is the final film of Marvel's Thor trilogy, it would be one hell of a way to leave the main protagonist before he has to rejoin the other main MCU heroes.
Why It Might Not Happen
The main reason why Thor losing his arm in Thor: Ragnarok is because it's redundant. As we mentioned earlier, Thor: The Dark World already pulled a similar stunt when Loki pretended to win favor with Malekith and Kurse on Svartalfheim by cutting off Thor's hand, but that was just one of the God of Mischief's "tricks" so the two brothers could take their adversaries by surprise. Putting Thor through that trauma for real in Thor: Ragnarok wouldn't be nearly as shocking since we witnessed that "performance" version four years ago. Been there, done that.
Besides, even if Thor had his arm chopped off, it wouldn't guarantee that he would lose Mjolnir permanently. Once he got over that initial burst of pain and was attended to by Asgardian physicians, he could still wield the hammer with his other hand. It's also important to note that if the MCU's Thor is anything like his comic book counterpart, not just any weapon can cut through his Asgardian flesh. Even if a villain like Grandmaster or Skurge wanted to slice up the God of Thunder, they would need the right tool for the job, so to speak. And frankly, Hela cutting Thor's arm off doesn't seem like her style, as she would cut to the chase and just try to eliminate him permanently with her magic if facing him in combat, not simply disable him.
Our Verdict
It's still a tossup, but for now, we're thinking that Thor's arm isn't in any danger in Thor: Ragnarok. With everything he has to deal with in this movie, from fighting The Hulk in that gladiator arena to making sure the eponymous apocalyptic event, losing an arm feels like it would be overkill. His chances of permanently retaining Mjolnir aren't looking good, so it's unlikely Thor will walk out of his third solo adventure without having lost anything. Why tread over familiar territory when you can do something different? Keep in mind that we're not saying that Thor will ever permanently lose an arm in the MCU. with Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4 coming up, maybe he'll suffer such an injury while battling Thanos or a yet-to-be-revealed adversary, making him more closely resemble his current comic book counterpart. For 2017, though, we suspect that he'll exit the year with both arms intact.
What do you think? Will Thor lose his arm in Thor: Ragnarok or will he make it out of the movie without either of those appendages being chopped off? Let us know what you think in the polls and comments below.
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