THOR 4 - 10 Possible Storylines Taika Waititi Should Adapt For The THOR: RAGNAROK Sequel

We've looked at the villains we think Thor should face in his next film, but which comic books should writer & director Taika Waititi be looking at for inspiration? These epic tales would be a good start!

By JoshWilding - Jul 18, 2019 06:07 AM EST

Filed Under: Thor: Love and Thunder

Earlier this week, we learned that Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi has signed on to both write and direct a fourth Thor movie. That's amazing news and fans are already buzzing about where things could go next for the God of Thunder on the big screen, especially after he returned in Avengers: Endgame with a new look and attitude.

What Waititi will do with the franchise moving forward could become clearer during Comic-Con in San Diego this weekend, but for now we're delving into ten epic comic book storylines we believe would serve as the perfect inspiration for a fourth chapter.

There are some well-known tales here and others you may not have heard of, but they're all worth checking out if you haven't already. More importantly, though, any one of these could help ensure that the Thor: Ragnarok sequel is the best yet!

So, to check out this breakdown of possible storylines, simply click the "View List" button below.

"The Ballad Of Beta Ray Bill"

Walt Simonson's work on THOR is full of great moments and characters, and many of those have already been brought to the big screen. However, it's about damn time that we see Beta Ray Bill in a live-action setting. He's a character you just know Waititi would have fun with and taking elements from this storyline would shake up the God of Thunder's world in a big way.

In it, Bill attacks Thor because he believes his race was wiped out by the Asgardians, and after sparing the hero upon realising that he's a good man, Odin decides to give him his own hammer: Stormbreaker. We've already seen that in the MCU, of course, so perhaps Thor could choose to let Bill have his weapon after regaining a new version of Mjolnir or something similar?

"Mangog"

We're going right back to the hero's early days here, but Jack Kirby's work was clearly a big influence on Thor: Ragnarok so Waititi returning to that well obviously wouldn't be a huge shocker.

In THOR #154 - #157, the hero came across a massive creature that was powered by the hatred of a "billion billion beings," all of whom were reportedly killed by Odin. Too powerful even for the God of Thunder, Thor was only able to defeat Mangog when his father resurrected the fallen and decreased the monster's size. Odin is dead in the MCU, though, so Thor would obviously have to go it alone.

"The God Butcher"/"God Bomb"

This critically acclaimed tale by Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic literally spanned thousands of years and put the focus on Thor's past, present, and future as he battled a horrifying new villain called Gorr the God Butcher. His goal was to wipe out every God in the universe and we witnessed the hero battling him as a young man, his current Unworthy self, and as an Odin-like ancient being.

Honestly, telling this story over one movie would be a mistake, but there are definitely elements from it that would work really well on the big screen and seeing Chris Hemsworth's Thor teaming up with his younger and older self would be tremendous fun.

THOR (By J. Michael Straczynski)

J. Michael Straczynski was the man responsible for bringing a new version of the God of Thunder back to the Marvel Universe after a three-year absence, and his work definitely inspired the 2011 movie (which is why he ended up making a cameo appearance there).

In terms of what Waititi could borrow from Straczynski's lengthy run, it would be great to finally see Thor's other brother Balder on screen, while a new Asgard floating over Oklahoma could obviously lead to a lot of very funny moments. Finally, the hero coming face to face with his grandfather Bor (briefly seen in Thor: The Dark World) has some potential too, depending on how it's handled.

"Thor Disassembled"

The reason Thor went on a three-year hiatus from the Marvel Universe was because he was "Disassembled" along with the rest of The Avengers in an epic tale which saw Ragnarok come to Asgard.

Now, we've already been down this route with Waititi's last movie, but there's a lot here which could still be adapted for the big screen, including the God of Thunder travelling through the other Asgardian realms as he tries to save them from destruction. Throw in Thor carrying Loki's head around and his attempts to resurrect his friends from Straczynski's follow-up, and this might just work.

"Mjolnir's Song"

We saw Thor battle a massive dragon-like creature in Thor: Ragnarok, but that wasn't the Midgard Serpent: a fearsome creature first introduced by Walt Simonson in the pages of THOR #380.

After Hela casts a curse on Thor to weaken him, he finds himself squaring off with a monster that's large enough to wind its body around the entire planet! This was an epic, sweeping one-off tale and one that Waititi could make good use of, even if the Midgard Serpent is just a supporting player.

"The Goddess Of Thunder"

Following the events of "Original Sin," Thor found himself unable to life his hammer Mjolnir and was suddenly unworthy. However, a mysterious woman managed to retrieve the hammer from the Moon and was named the new Thor in place of the Odinson. We later learned that she was Jane Foster who, dying of cancer, was able to prolong her life by taking on the God of Thunder's mantle.

If Marvel Studios is planning to leave Thor in outer space with the Guardians of the Galaxy, then perhaps Natalie Portman could reprise the role of Jane in order to take his place. There's lots that could be adapted from the long-running story and it would give the MCU another great female hero.

Angela

There could be some issues here in terms of rights, and there's no denying that Angela was something of a failure for Marvel Comics after being introduced as the long lost sister of Thor.

Despite that, there's definitely potential for the character on screen and it would be fun to see the God of Thunder get his ass handed to him by this powerful Goddess. She's been a Guardian of the Galaxy, a Huntress of Heven, and the Queen of Hel, so there's lots of material to borrow from.

"Whom The Gods Would Destroy"

When Odin decided to punish Thor for his romance with Jane Foster, he ended up draining his son of half his power and pitted him against the Olympian God Hercules. That character is expected to be introduced in The Eternals and could easily make the leap to the Thor franchise for this battle.

Thor ultimately loses the fight and Hercules is able to bask in his newfound celebrity status. This could make for a fun buddy comedy or sorts which introduces The Eternals to the wider MCU. This tale isn't enough to carry an entire movie, but there's certainly some great stuff here.

"Fearless Defenders"

It may be called Thor 4 at the moment, but who's to say that it will actually revolve around The God of Thunder? As we mentioned earlier, he's currently in outer space with the Guardians, while Valkyrie is on Earth ruling over New Asgard. With that in mind, she could very easily be this franchise's new lead.

Tessa Thompson has talked a lot about how the Fearless Defenders series inspired her take on the character and while we wouldn't necessarily have to see a group of female heroes assemble here, the key plot element that should be lifted is the fact that Valkyrie is portrayed as being openly bisexual.

Which of these storylines would you like to see adapted for Thor 4? Have we missed any of your favourites? Continue reading to see which villains we want to see in the Thor: Ragnarok sequel!

Enchantress

This is a character fans have been hoping to see on the big screen for years now, but there's a lot more to the beautiful Enchantress than just her looks. Obsessed with Thor, she's tried on multiple occasions to win him over, including the use of magic and by sending any number of villains after him.

Enchantress is also a powerful sorceress and while some comics have revolved around her feelings for the God of Thunder, there's no getting around the fact that she's incredibly smart, calculating, and willing to do whatever it takes to win his heart...and a fight.

Ulik

Ulik has never really served as a major threat to the God of Thunder but he is a character with a lot of potential. Nearly as strong as Thor, the villain is a Rock Troll and one of the most fearsome warriors in the Nine Realms; as a rival of Thor's since they were young, Waititi could easily reinvent Ulik in a similar way to how Executioner was used in Thor: Ragnarok.

Throw in the fact that his "pounders" are forged from Uru metal and it would be a whole lot of fun seeing this guy come to blows with Thor on the big screen..

Gorr The God Butcher

Created by Jason Aaron, Gorr, the God Butcher's goal was to annihilate every God in the Universe and he came close to succeeding. During his epic clash with Thor, we were treated to a tale that spanned the hero's past, present, and distant future, and while that may be a tad complicated for a movie, there's a lot from the source material that Waititi could use in the fourth movie.

Gorr was the one who convinced Thor that he wasn't worthy to lift Mjolnir, and while he's a very dark character, there's a lot Waititi could do with him as he could easily be reinvented somewhat.

Mangog

Mangog is actually one of the Marvel Universe's most powerful villains and with the combined hatred of an entire planet leading to his creation, he's strong enough to rival even Odin.

He wants nothing more than to see Asgard and Odin's bloodline wiped completely from existence, and with only a handful of appearances under his belt, this iconic Jack Kirby creation definitely feels like a villain Waititi would gravitate towards and do some really interesting things with.

The Destroyer

Marvel Studios obviously included The Destroyer in the first Thor movie, but its role was limited and it really only felt like it was featured in the final act to give the hero someone to fight.

However, just imagine if someone managed to create a whole army of Destroyers that the God of Thunder could square off with in this sequel. It would be undeniably epic, and given how many interesting things Waititi did in Thor: Ragnarok in terms of visuals, I'm pretty sure he could reinvent these powerful robotic pawns in a way that would lead to some entertaining and memorable scenes.

Mephisto

Mephisto isn't exactly a member of Thor's "rogues gallery" but he is someone the God of Thunder has crossed paths with a number of times over the years. It's about time the Marvel Cinematic Universe's own version of the devil makes his presence felt on screen, and seeing him toy with the God of Thunder would be downright tremendous.

Waititi completely reinvented The Grandmaster, so he could easily do the same with Mephisto in a way that makes comic book fans happy while also bringing something fresh to the table.

The Wrecking Crew

The Wrecking Crew are often used as cannon fodder in the comic books, but there's something intriguing about the idea of Thor being pitted against four humans with God-like powers.

Having the hero square off with these petty criminals as they wreak havoc on Earth would lead to a far more grounded tale than we've seen in the past, but it would be no bad thing for Thor to spend at least some time here in his next movie - especially after Iron Man's death in Avengers: Endgame.

The Serpent

Fear Itself was a pretty lame event story but there are elements which could make Thor 4 a great movie. The Asgardian God of Fear was locked away by Odin himself countless ages ago, but now that he's dead and Asgard has been destroyed, he could easily make his return to plague Thor.

His eventual transformation into a giant serpent could be a little too similar to what we saw at the start of Thor: Ragnarok, but I definitely have faith in Waititi doing something new with him.

Ares

If Marvel Studios is indeed planning to release a Dark Avengers movie, it would be wise to introduce Ares sooner rather than later. While he's never really been a full-blown villain, Ares has come to blows with Thor in the past and could easily be introduced as a supporting character in Thor 4.

It would be fascinating to see Thor cross paths with another God, especially if that God wanted to prove that he's actually the mightiest of them all. With Asgard destroyed, perhaps Ares will come knocking to put an end to the family who ruled over it?

Loki

Loki obviously died in Avengers: Infinity War, but he will return in his own solo series on Disney+. With any luck, that will revolve around that villainous version of the character from Avengers: Endgame when he managed to escape with the Tesseract. Then, if the series ends with him returning to the present day, he could easily cross paths with his brother.

The difference here would be that Loki would be unaware that they (mostly) put their differences to one side, and that could create a humorous new dynamic Waititi could take full advantage of.

Chris Hemsworth Says I Became A Parody Of Myself In Taika Waititi's THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER

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43 Comments

1 2

Tonic24k - 7/18/2019, 6:31 AM

Meanwhile...

KWilly - 7/18/2019, 6:59 AM

@Tonic24k -

Tonic24k - 7/18/2019, 7:15 AM

@KWilly -

Ryguy88 - 7/18/2019, 7:35 AM

@Tonic24k - lol at everyone who gave Avatar a 1/10

kirbyfan - 7/18/2019, 8:31 AM

Beta Ray Bill has to be one of the most RIDICULOUS characters ever created!
How about doing the real Mighty Thor for once, Jack Kirby provided plenty and I do mean plenty of fantastic storylines they could do! But this director will probably bring in a bunch of COMEDY WRITERS and DUMB IT DOWN even more than he did the last time!

Tonic24k - 7/18/2019, 10:22 AM

@kirbyfan - What does that have to do with my comment? Can you do your hating elsewhere?...

HeavyKevy - 7/18/2019, 6:37 AM

Wow, another one of these articles...we are truly lucky.

Origame - 7/18/2019, 6:38 AM

@HeavyKevy - he forgot about the 6 comics they shouldn't adapt.

tmp3 - 7/18/2019, 6:38 AM

OT: This looks amazing

GhostDog - 7/18/2019, 6:45 AM

@tmp3 - this actually looks entertaining, and compelling at the same time, unlike the snoozefest that was First Man.

When will we start going back to space...

tmp3 - 7/18/2019, 6:49 AM

@BlackBeltJones - First Man? Snoozefest?

This does look like it could be better than First Man though. James Grey is a very under-rated film-maker.

GhostDog - 7/18/2019, 6:52 AM

@tmp3 - I wanted to like it, but I just couldn't. I went in excited and left bored. Its well crafted, there is good acting, but its one of those feelings where a movie just doesn't hit you.

The Lost City of Z was one of the best films of 2016.

tmp3 - 7/18/2019, 7:00 AM

@BlackBeltJones - I thought First Man worked great, but I'll agree on Lost City of Z - great film. Made me appreciate Pattinson as an actor, and along with Good Time a few months later made him an actor to look out for for me.
Also, a film like that would have been a big studio release 15 years ago, now it's an independent film that went into limited release. Wish the big 5 studios took more risks.

Humperdink - 7/18/2019, 9:22 AM

@tmp3 -

This should have been trailer 1.

GeneralZod - 7/18/2019, 6:07 PM

@BlackBeltJones - I can see with First Man 2asnt for everyone. Personally, I thought First Man should have been nominated for, if not won, best picture. It was stunning. Instead, we got nominations for Bohemian Rhapsody, Black kkklansman and Black Panther. Riiiiight.

@tmp3

GreenAerrow - 7/18/2019, 6:39 AM

I feel like I read this article yesterday under a slightly different title...

Gizmoduck - 7/18/2019, 3:24 PM

@GreenAerrow - agreed, was yesterdays written by Josh? Or did he reup the same thing just to get those sweet sweet clicks?

Aside from that if they do BRB, they MUST include Throg - especially since Mjolnir was destroyed on earth Throg could have got a shard to make his hammer from.

GreenAerrow - 7/18/2019, 3:50 PM

@Gizmoduck - yes this was another article from josh. He even posted another today exactly the same as the first two.

I agree, I am almost certain that BRB will be in this one. He fits into Taika’s vision at least IMO

GhostDog - 7/18/2019, 6:41 AM

Knowing Taika, it will be a blend of "The Ballad Of Beta Ray Bill and Mangog. Taika could do wonders with Bill; he was supposed to be in Ragnarok.

As cool as God Bomb would be, that's not Taika's wheelhouse. Not WEIRD enough for him. And you can't do that story over one film imo.

Added bonus, there's a correlation between Mangog believing Odin wiped his race out and Bill believing the Asgardians did the same to his.

knocturnalzen10 - 7/18/2019, 6:55 AM

sigh :( probably won't be Gorr ......

Reeds2Much - 7/18/2019, 6:57 AM

The only problem with The Ballad of Beta Ray Bill is that without a Mjolnir his badassery is slightly diminished.

Kumkani - 7/18/2019, 7:40 AM

@Reeds2Much - But Mjolnir is back now.

ShimmyShimmyYA - 7/18/2019, 7:43 AM

@DnA - cap returned it along with the stones

SpideyPuffsMJ - 7/18/2019, 7:13 AM

Canon108 - 7/18/2019, 7:37 AM

Bet Thor goes to the Asgardian underworld and meets his other two brothers.

defenderofthefaith - 7/18/2019, 7:38 AM

With almost all the characters dead I think Loki from the Avengers and Jane might return. Loki because he's great and Jane not as a live interest but for her science.

defenderofthefaith - 7/18/2019, 7:39 AM

@defenderofthefaith - •love

Kumkani - 7/18/2019, 7:44 AM

I still refuse to believe Marvel had Cate Blanchett play a one-and-done character.

DanielPlainviewsGhost - 7/18/2019, 7:56 AM

Beta Ray Bill motion capped with Will Arnett providing his voice.

Make it so Marvel!

inkniron - 7/18/2019, 9:47 AM

@DanielPlainviewsGhost - Sara Jessica Parker- Gender swapped & live action

SerKurtWagner - 7/18/2019, 7:58 AM

*cues Bill Nye music*

Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill!

knomad - 7/18/2019, 8:02 AM

Most of these would not be epic enough to build a movie around. And the ones that are.. well.. things need time to "marinate". The Dark Phoenix saga bombed in cinema (twice) because, in both cases, the conclusion was reached after only one other movie involving Phoenix. Justice League sucked because only Superman and Batman had any kind of movie history at the time, And it wasn't the same Batman, And.. etc etc. The Infinity Saga, on the other hand, was amazing because it had 10 years and like 20 films to build the story.

No one (besides Marvel Studios) wants to play the long game.

kamikaizer - 7/18/2019, 8:26 AM

Having Gorr and the God Butcherer story being adapted to the big screen would be such a dream come true. Gorr's motivation of killing all Gods so that individuals across the universe would be able to live a better life if they did not have faith in Gods who did not even care about them proposes such an interesting and thought-provoking theme; a theme that would amount to a true conflict between Gorr and Thor as well as a great conflict within Thor himself.

Although this story would be a masterpiece if adapted right, it would be too dark and controversial for Marvel due to its involvement in faith. Also Taika Waititi would just take a dump on this story and make the vengeful and "heroic" Gorr into some joking piece of doo doo