Thor’s Complete MCU Timeline Explained

As one of the longest-running active Avengers, Thor has experienced an enormous amount of loss throughout his MCU timeline—something Marvel Studios will explore in his fourth solo film, Thor: Love & Thunder. Asgardians have been intertwined with events on Earth for millennia. Although Thor’s father Odin initially led Asgard as an empire he came to regret that decision, reinventing the Realm Eternal as the protector of the Nine Realms. He led the forces of Asgard in defense of Midgard (Earth) in a military campaign against the Frost Giants in approximately 1,000 CE.

When Marvel first introduced Thor and the Asgardians in 2011’s Thor, the studio’s decision-makers were unsure how viewers would react to mysticism and the supernatural in a universe that had, until this point, been built purely on pseudo-scientific foundations. Thus Thor initially claimed to come from a place where science and magic are one and the same thing, following the pattern of Sir Arthur C. Clarke who famously claimed any sufficiently advanced technology would be indistinguishable from magic in science-fiction. The success of 2016’s Doctor Strange proved Marvel did not need to be so reluctant, and over the last few years they’ve performed something of a course correction, acknowledging the Asgardians as literal gods. This later led to the studio revealing the Egyptian gods in Moon Knight, suggesting all these pantheons are real in the MCU.

Still, Thor and the Asgardians will always stand as the best example of Marvel’s gods—even with the upcoming addition of the Greek pantheon of gods set to be introduced in Thor: Love & Thunder. The Asguardians were the first to arrive in the MCU and Thor is the most prominent of them all; a God of Thunder who became one of the original Avengers, and whose story is woven into the history of Midgard.

The Origin of Thor

The son of Odin and his wife Frigga, Thor grew up alongside his adopted brother Loki. Both brothers seem to have believed they had a shot at the throne of Asgard, but in truth Thor—a full-blooded Asgardian, rather than a Frost Giant ensorcelled to conceal his true nature—was always going to be the king. Odin gave Thor the enchanted hammer Mjolnir to use as a weapon, although the God of Thunder failed to realize it was just a tool to focus his own power. The Odinson grew up to become one of Asgard’s foremost warriors, reveling in his military campaigns much like his father in earlier years. His adopted brother Loki grew to resent Thor, sensing their father did not love and trust him in the same way.

How Thor Became Worthy

Loki struck a secret deal with the Frost Giant king Laufey in the first Thor movie, leading to an incident that disrupted what would have been Thor’s coronation as the new king of Asgard. He was then able to goad Thor into launching a counter-attack on the Frost Giants, much to Odin’s fury. Odin seems to have seen too much of the man he had once been in Thor; a rash and reckless man who would lead the Nine Realms into war before he gained wisdom. Odin declared Thor unworthy, stripping him of his powers and banishing him to Earth in 2011, hoping he would gain some humility. Meanwhile, Loki continued to advance his schemes, becoming even more twisted as he realized his true identity as Laufey’s son, adopted into the family of Odin but never truly feeling part of it.

Odin’s plans for Thor came to fruition in an unlikely way, however, with his son falling in love with the humans he met on Earth—specifically, Jane Foster. When Loki sent the Destroyer to Earth to kill Thor, the Odinson offered to sacrifice himself to spare the humans, and in so doing he proved himself worthy once again. Thor reclaimed his power and returned to Asgard for a fateful confrontation with Loki. He was forced to destroy the Bifrost to defeat his adopted brother—temporarily makign it so that he could not travel back to Earth to see Jane—an act that had seemingly killed Loki in the process.

Thor & The Original Avengers

Loki survived the Bifrost’s destruction, escaping through a secret portal. He was discovered by Thanos, and struck a bargain to bring the Mad Titan the Space Stone in return for an army to help conquer the Earth. Frigga’s own magic allowed her to sense these deeds, however, and she was able to warn Thor. Odin used his own dark magic to simulate the Bifrost, sending Thor to Earth to help defeat Loki and drive back the Chitauri in 2012. Thor became one of the original Avengers and a celebrated superhero because of his heroism in the Battle of New York, as seen in The Avengers. Thor used the Tesseract to return to Asgard with Loki as his prisoner, and the Tesseract’s power was able to restore the Bifrost.

The MCU’s Nine Realms had been plunged into chaos due to Asgard’s apparent withdrawal, and Thor: The Dark World revealed the Odinson spent the next few months leading Asgardian forces in their defense. Thor’s heroism culminated in a battle against Malekith, leader of the Dark Elves, who sought to master the power of the Aether; actually the Reality Stone. Thor proved himself worthy in a battle that spanned the Realms, before choosing to remain on Earth with Jane Foster. He remained there until 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, when another Infinity Stone emerged and Thor began a quest across the cosmos to figure out what was going on. Thor and Jane broke up sometime around this point.

Mjolnir’s Destruction At The Hands Of Hela

The Nine Realms were in chaos, and in Thor: Ragnarok he discovered it was because Loki had taken Odin’s place and was not fulfilling Asgard’s traditional role as defender of the Nine Realms. He and Loki returned to Earth in 2018 to learn Odin was dying at last, and they were both with him when he faded away. Odin’s death undid most of his magic, resulting in the liberation of Thor’s older sister Hela, who had ruled at Odin’s side back when he was a conqueror—so far back Thor had no knowledge or memory of her. To Thor’s horror, Hela grasped Mjolnir and used her own power to shatter the enchanted hammer once and for all. It would take some time for Thor to realize he had not lost his powers with Mjolnir’s destruction, with Odin’s spirit assuring him he no longer needed a weapon to focus his power.

Thor Lost Asgard, But Gained Stormbreaker

Thor realized the only way to defeat Hela was to allow Asgard to be destroyed. To this end, he initiated Ragnarok, releasing Surtur to destroy the so-called “Realm Eternal.” Thor escaped with refugees from Asgard, but, as seen in Avengers: Infinity War, tragedy struck once again. Loki had selfishly taken the Tesseract shortly before Asgard’s fall, and Thanos attacked the Asgardians in order to acquire it. Half the Asgardian refugees were slaughtered, and Thor himself was left for dead, his body drifting in space.

Thor survived Thanos’ attack and allied with the Guardians of the Galaxy in trying to stop the Mad Titan. Thor traveled to Nidavellir, home of the Elves, who he believed could make a weapon capable of killing Thanos. He learned Thanos had already visited Nidavellir, coming close to wiping out the Dark Elves and leaving only their ruler, Eitri, alive. Eitri was able to create Stormbreaker, the greatest Asgardian weapon of all, one that could even be used to summon the Bifrost. Thor had lost Mjolnir, but he had gained something even more powerful.

Thor’s Failure Against Thanos

Thor arrived on Earth and joined the battle against Thanos. He made a strategic mistake, however, attempting to cause a critical injury rather than simply striking Thanos dead. This gave the Mad Titan the opportunity to use the Infinity Stones to achieve his insane goal of erasing half the living creatures in the universe. Thor blamed himself for the tragedy, and killed Thanos by going for the head when the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy managed to track him down in Avengers: Endgame. The Avengers learned they were too late, for Thanos had already used the Infinity Stones to reduce them to an atomic level, meaning they could never be used again.

Thor returned to Earth with the Asgardian refugees, who settled in the town of Tønsberg, Norway, which they dubbed New Asgard. Thor was ostensibly their ruler, but in truth he retreated from the world, suffering from PTSD after all he had experienced. Five years later, in 2023, the Hulk managed to draw Thor back into the world when he offered hope (and beer) that Thanos’ action could be reversed using time travel. Thor took part in a mission to Asgard, where he successfully retrieved the Aether. Thor met his mother, Frigga, shortly before her death, and she gave him some words of wisdom that helped him begin to heal.

Thor’s Role In Thanos’ Defeat

The time travel adventures unleashed another version of Thanos on the MCU. Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America battled against him, with Thor initially using both Stormbreaker and a variant of Mjolnir drawn through time as well. To his delight, however, Mjolnir was eventually claimed by Captain America, with Thor’s friend proving he too was worthy to wield the power of the God of Thunder. All Earth’s heroes—and many from across the stars—assembled for the final battle against Thanos, with Thor on the front lines. The Avengers triumphed, but at a terrible cost, with Iron Man forced to sacrifice himself to defeat him once and for all.

In the aftermath of this fateful battle, Thor chose to pass Asgard’s throne on to Valkyrie. Thor left Earth with the Guardians of the Galaxy, seeking to redefine himself and bring an end to his warfaring ways. Thor: Love & Thunder picks up from this point, continuing the Odinson’s adventures—and revealing war is rather hard to leave behind.

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