Warning: MAJOR spoilers ahead for Thor: Ragnarok! Read ahead at your own risk!
The boom of the internet has allowed fans to pull apart movies before they even debut and develop some delightfully crackpot theories on their favorite worlds. The comic book genre has become some of the most fertile ground for that type of activity, and one of the most highly discussed and dissected comic book movies of 2017 is Thor: Ragnarok. Now that the film has finally debuted in theaters, we can confirm that while some of the rumors and theories about this film were right, some of them were very wrong.
Those are the rumors that we will focus on today -- the ones that consistently popped up on the road to this behemoth blockbuster, but ended up not panning out when the film finally debuted. We have many false rumors to get to, so let's kick things off with Thor: Ragnarok's lack of ties to the Infinity Stones and Thanos' journey to complete the Infinity Gauntlet.
The Soul Stone Would Finally Turn Up
Ever since the beginning of Phase One (even if the audience and characters didn't know it at the time), the Infinity Stones have been the most important objects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The MCU went into the events of Thor: Ragnarok with five of these six powerful artifacts accounted for, with many assuming that Ragnarok would serve to set up the reveal of the Soul Gem and complete the mystery. Theories about the specific location of the Soul Stone varied (ranging from it being in Heimdall's possession to hidden in Odin's eye socket), but the reality of the situation was more uneventful than many of us could've assumed. The Soul Stone was nowhere to be found in Thor: Ragnarok, making Black Panther and Infinity War the two remaining options.
Thanos Would Appear
Building off of the previously-held believe that the Soul Stone would appear in Thor: Ragnarok, many fans assumed that Thor: Ragnarok would allow Josh Brolin's Thanos to finally step out of the shadows and take action, thus making this the first instance of The Mad Titan squaring off against an Avenger. However, much like the Soul Stone rumor, this one turned out to be false. That said, Thanos' presence can still definitely be felt throughout this movie, as Thor makes frequent reference to the Infinity Stones and implies that he has some understanding of the threat posed by the big, purple bad guy. We also can't forget the giant ship that Thor and Loki see during Thor: Ragnarok's mid-credits sequence, which we've now learned belongs The Mad Titan himself.
Thor Would Die
It may seem like an utterly outrageous concept to the outside observer, but the possibility of Thor Odinson going down in a blaze of glory during the events of Thor: Ragnarok was actually a rumor that carried quite a bit of weight with some fans for a while. Thor is one of those characters who can die and be resurrected (this is a comic book movie universe, after all), and some speculated that Thor would die at the hands of one of Ragnarok's villains and find himself forced to fight his way out of Hel to come back to the land of the living. Thor: Ragnarok never got quite that dark, and while Thor takes quite a beating at various points throughout the film (he even loses one of his eyes), it looks like he's going to stick around for a while.
Red Skull Would Return
Of all the theories and rumors that surfaced during the lead-up to Thor: Ragnarok, this one was admittedly one of the most bonkers -- and yet it was still definitely within the realm of possibility. The last time we saw Captain America: The First Avenger villain Red Skull, he was clutching the Tesseract as it seemingly fried him into oblivion, potentially transporting him to another realm. Many fans have assumed that the evil Nazi could return by the end of Phase Three, and given the presence of the Tesseract on Asgard, it didn't seem too outlandish to assume that he could've ended up somewhere in the cosmos. It became even more possible once we learned about the wonkiness of time and space on Sakaar. With that said, Red Skull was nowhere to be found, so Cap fans will have to keep their fingers crossed for a second appearance.
Heimdall Would Die
In addition to the rumored death of Thor: Ragnarok's titular hero, many fans assumed that Idris Elba's Heimdall would be killed at some point during the events of the story. The rationale for this idea came from inside the MCU, as well as outside of it. For starters, the death of Heimdall seemed to make quite a bit of sense when we look at the stakes of a movie like Ragnarok, as well as all of the other characters who get killed when Hela makes her way back to Asgard. Beyond that, Elba has made no secret of the fact that he didn't love working on the first two Thor movies, so for him to be killed off would've made sense. However, Heimdall lived to fight another day, and it looks like he is now Thor's right-hand man.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Would Cameo
When the first official trailer for Avengers: Infinity War debuted at D23 over the summer, the first thing that fans learned was the fact that Thor Odinson would meet the Guardians of the Galaxy before returning to Earth. The Thor seen in that trailer looks identical to the post-haircut Thor seen during the events of Thor: Ragnarok, leading many to assume that the two films might actually overlap at some point, or at least share some connective tissue, given The Grandmaster's status as an Elder of the Univers. Alas, that was not the case, as Thor: Ragnarok ends on a note (specifically the mid-credits sequence) that sets up the Infinity War trailer. The Guardians are nowhere to be found in Ragnarok, but anyone who has kept up with Infinity War knows that they are coming.
Lady Sif Would Appear
From the very beginning of the Thor franchise, Jaimie Alexander's Lady Sif has stood out as one of the most beloved Asgardian heroes. With that in mind, many fans assumed that she would show up at some point to help lend a hand in Thor: Ragnarok -- which seemed even more likely when the now-deceased Warriors Three were confirmed for the film. However, Lady Sif never showed up in Thor: Ragnarok, and her last appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was during an episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The in-universe explanation for this omission from the film is that Loki banished her when he usurped the throne. Of course, there is one bright side to her not being in Ragnarok: she's still alive and able to return at some point further down the line, which will likely make many fans happy.
A Romance Between Thanos And Hela Would Be Established
Ever since Marvel came out with the announcement that Cate Blanchett would join the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Hela, fans have speculated that she might have a more profound relevance for the overarching MCU. Specifically, some have assumed that she's the MCU's version of Lady Death, the personification of death whom Thanos courts in his quest to obtain the Infinity Stones and complete the Infinity Gauntlet. As the self-proclaimed "Goddess of Death," it makes quite a bit of sense, and many fans still assume that she is going to play that role going forward. However, contrary to many of the fan theories and rumors that popped up online leading up to Thor: Ragnarok's release: the possibility of a romantic entanglement between these two villains has not been examined or explored just yet.
