Most fans don’t consider the drastically changed the tone of the character and his stories – as the beginning of a new one.
It’s not that Ragnarok ignored the events of the previous two films (they heavily informed its plot, actually), but it feels like its own beast, and with Love and Thunder, it seems as though this series will stand on its own. Here are 10 Thor: Ragnarok Characters We Want To See Return In Love And Thunder.
The Grandmaster
Fans were relieved in the post-credits scene of Thor: Ragnarok to find that Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster character was still alive. He was surrounded by his liberated subjects on Sakaar, who were probably about to brutally slaughter him, but as long as he’s alive in the MCU canon, Taika Waititi can find a way to get him into the plot of Love and Thunder.
Goldblum won over fans immediately with his eccentric, flamboyant portrayal of the Grandmaster and he clearly relished the opportunity to play such an extroverted, self-justifying villain, so no one would object to his return in the next movie.
Loki
Ever since he his six-episode series on Disney+, but it would be great to see him in Thor: Love and Thunder, too.
The strength of Loki’s character has always been his complex love-hate relationship with Thor. Kevin Feige has been stressing that those streaming shows will link very closely with the films, so maybe there’s hope that Loki’s Disney+ series will lead him into an appearance in Love and Thunder.
The Hulk
It remains unclear exactly what the Hulk’s future in the MCU will be, since his character arc came to a pretty natural conclusion in Avengers: Endgame. Bruce Banner and the Hulk merged in a gamma radiation chamber (or something – he explained it very quickly) and he emerged as “Smart Hulk,” who has the best qualities of both.
Banner built strong relationships with Thor and Valkyrie in Ragnarok that we haven’t seen followed up yet, save for Valkyrie telling Smart Hulk, “I think I preferred you either of the other ways,” so maybe an appearance in Love and Thunder is in order.
Skurge
Skurge is better known by the supervillain alter ego “the Executioner,” a name that he was given by Hela when she first recruited him to her evil squad in Thor: Ragnarok, and he was played brilliantly by Karl Urban.
What made him stand out in Ragnarok was the fact that his heroic redemption in Ragnarok, it would be great if the New Asgardians can find a way to resurrect him.
Doctor Strange
Thor and Doctor Strange didn’t get a chance to talk during the events of Infinity War or Endgame – they were on different planets in the former and the Sorcerer Supreme was busy fending off a tidal wave in the latter – but they developed a bond in Thor: Ragnarok.
The God of Thunder stopped by the Sanctum Sanctorum to see if Strange could help him track down his father. Not only did Strange manage to do this; he gave Thor a beer to knock back while he was waiting. These two understand each other, since they’re both magical figures, so it would be great to see them on-screen together again.
Hela
Cate Blanchett has been even Black Widow is about to get her own movie).
Blanchett relished the opportunity to play a classical villain in the mold of Maleficent or Cruella de Vil, so she’d probably be more than willing to come back.
Fandral
It seems unlikely that Shazam!’s Zachary Levi will want to return to his MCU role as Fandral in Thor: Love and Thunder now that he’s one of the DCEU’s most beloved stars.
However, there is a slim chance that he will want to come back if he’s given the larger role he deserves – at one point, Levi was only gave Fandral a cameo role), it’s taking characters that were marginalized or mischaracterized by earlier MCU movies and giving them a makeover.
Heimdall
The last time we saw Heimdall, he was resurrecting the Hulk and sending him to Earth before getting murdered by Thanos, who then declared, “No resurrections this time.” So, it’s unlikely that we’ll ever be meeting Idris Elba’s all-seeing Bifrost-protecting Asgardian badass again.
However, Elba was always woefully underused and fans were really taken with that character (he was one of the few good things about Thor: The Dark World), so if there is a way to bring him back, Taika Waititi should consider it. Heimdall was Thor’s best friend, after all, so he’d be more than willing to do whatever it would take to bring him back to life.
Valkyrie
This one is actually confirmed to return. And not only that, she’s promised a huge role in the plot. After Thor ed on the title of King of New Asgard to Valkyrie at the end of Avengers: Endgame, she will spend Thor: Love and Thunder searching high and low for a queen to rule alongside her.
Tessa Thompson made such an impression on fans with just one appearance in Ragnarok that there was mass disappointment when she was nowhere to be seen in Avengers: Infinity War. Thankfully, Marvel rectified this by having her ride a Pegasus and kick serious ass in the final battle of Endgame. It was a no-brainer for her to return in Love and Thunder.
Korg
With Taika Waititi back at the helm and the character he plays more popular than ever, it would be very surprising if Korg didn’t make an appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder. When we caught up with him in Avengers: Endgame, he was crashing on Thor’s couch in New Asgard and spending his days playing Fortnite.
Thor is off on cosmic adventures with the Guardians of the Galaxy (which we have to assume will get picked up in Love and Thunder), so we might not see much banter between him and Korg, but he could contribute to Valkyrie’s love-seeking storyline as a ing player.
