Marvel’s ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Synopsis Confirms Thor v. Hulk Battle Rumors

Marvel Studios has released a synopsis for the upcoming movie Thor: Ragnarok. The synopsis confirms rumors that have been circulating for some time that there will be a showdown between Thor and his former Avengers teammate, The Hulk.

Walt Disney released its 2017 film slate on Thursday, January 5, with a plot synopsis for Thor: Ragnarok which reveals that Thor (Chris Hemsworth) will be imprisoned “on the other side of the universe” without his trusty hammer, Mjolnir.

Get ready for Marvel Studios' "Thor: Ragnarok" with a new photo and synopsis! Details: https://t.co/yxUA9ipIh6 pic.twitter.com/hIQtTeWlMe

— Thor (@thorofficial) January 5, 2017

Thor was apparently banished by Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Hela from Asgard to “the other side of the universe” where he is held captive by the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum). He finds himself in a race against time to escape imprisonment and return to Asgard to stop Ragnarok, the cataclysmic destruction of the home of the gods by the new powerful villain Hela (Cate Blanchett).

But before he can race off on a mission to save Asgard, he must endure a “deadly gladiatorial contest” that ends with a showdown against The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo).

Speculation that Thor could face off against The Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok has been circulating since early last year after it was revealed that the forthcoming movie would feature Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk as the secondary character. But most fans ignored the speculation despite the fact that it was known — after The Hulk’s gladiatorial armor was displayed at Marvel’s booth during the San Diego Comic-Con last July — that there would be gladiatorial combat involving The Hulk and that the movie would borrow inspiration from Greg Pak’s Planet Hulk comic book storyline.

[Note: In Planet Hulk, the green giant found himself marooned on an alien planet after being banished from Earth into space by the Illuminati. While on the alien planet he was forced, after being fitted with an obedience disk, to fight as a gladiator against monsters. In Thor: Ragnarok, which borrows from the Planet Hulk storyline, Thor and Hulk will likely participate in a series of gladiatorial fights and face each other at the final stage.]

Fans and commentators had assumed that Thor: Ragnarok would most likely be what Slashfilm‘s Peter Sciretta described as an “Intergalactic buddy road movie,” with Thor and Hulk smashing through villains side by side.

However, the Huffington Post‘s Bill Bradley recalls that Hemsworth had given an interview in June 2016 during which he dropped a hint that Thor might be facing The Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok.

Hemworth had told the Huffington Post that if Thor did not have his hammer, then he would need a Hulkbusting suit.

“Maybe the Hulkbusting suit,” he said with a laugh when he was asked which weapon he would want if he did not have his hammer. “That would come in handy, wouldn’t it?”

Although online rumors claim that The Hulk got into space with the help of Loki (Tom Hiddleston), fans are wondering exactly how the earthbound superhero made it to space and got to “the other side of the universe” where he fights Thor.

We only see The Hulk at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron flying off in a quinjet after throwing Ultron (James Spader) out of it. Later, Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) asks the Hulk, not Banner, to place the craft out of stealth mode so that S.H.I.E.L.D can track it. But Hulk ignores the request and shuts down the communication link.

Later, Nick Fury tells Romanoff that the quinjet had been tracked to a location near Fiji and that Banner would likely send a postcard.

Ever since the brief confrontation between The Hulk and Thor in The Avengers (2012), fans have been looking forward to a main confrontation between the two superheroes. Their wish is about to be fulfilled, and hopefully, the action would be even more explosive than when Tony Stark, dressed in his Hulkbuster suit, subdued The Hulk.

But without Mjolnir, Thor might really need a Hulkbuster suit, as Hemsworth suggested.

[Featured Image by Marvel Studios]