How 'Thor: Ragnarok' Mid-Credits Sets Up 'Avengers: Infinity War'
Thanos is here.
The newest movie in Marvel’s Thor franchise, Thor: Ragnarok, is a rocking good time as an intergalactic action-comedy romp. But the cataclysmic fight of a lifetime in Avengers: Infinity War is on the horizon. Set to arrive in less than five months, the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be put on notice when Thanos arrives to collect all the Infinity Stones and rule galaxy with his golden fist. So it was pretty important that Thor: Ragnarok get the ball rolling on Infinity War. For those who might have missed it, here’s how Ragnarok gets the fight started.
Those Infinity Stones
Right from the start, Thor: Ragnarok begins with Thor trapped by one of his old arch-enemies. To entertain himself, he begins conversing with a skeleton about all his adventures in the MCU thus far. He also explained that he left Earth to collect the Infinity Stones (the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron) before someone else can. He wasn’t successful, it seems, given that Thor had none of them, save for the ones already accounted for like the Tesseract (Space Stone) or the Eye of Agamotto (Time Stone).
That’s when Thor: Ragnarok proceeds to go about its non-Infinity War business, that is, until the all-important mid-credits scene. But before that, Thanos also meets the Sorcerer Supreme.
When Thor and Loki look for their father, Odin, in 'Thor: Ragnarok,' they encounter Doctor Strange.
Meeting Doctor Strange
While Doctor Strange had his own business to take care of in his origin movie from last year, Doctor Strange is now Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme, and has based himself right in the heart of New York City (as most of the Marvel Universe tends to do). When Thor and Loki are looking for their displaced father, Odin, Doctor Strange — who has appointed himself Earth’s interdimensional guardian — interferes, just to make sure no one is up to no good.
It’s a good set-up to have Doctor Strange included in Infinity War when he has now become acquaintances with the God of Thunder.
Now, about those mid-credits…
The Mid-Credits
With Ragnarok over and Hela defeated, Thor and Loki are en route to Earth to find a home for the now homeless Asgardians. In the mid-credits scene, that’s when a gigantic ship with the silhouette of Thanos arrives, dwarfing the ship that houses all Asgardians (plus the Hulk). The scene cuts immediately to black, but fans can piece for themselves what may happen next.
In spite of the scale of Avengers: Infinity War, Thor: Ragnarok doesn’t concern itself too much with setting up the pieces with the MCU’s battle against Thanos. Being a Thor movie first and foremost, Ragnarok tells its own story with more immediate stakes than to make audiences worried about a movie that’s still five months away. But time is ticking, and Thanos is not far away.
Thor: Ragnarok is in theaters now.
