Why’s Thor floating in space in the latest Avengers: Infinity War clip?
By Mia Johnson
A new Avengers: Infinity War clip features Thor being rescued by the Guardians of the Galaxy. We look at how he might have ended up in that situation.
More puzzle pieces are coming together for Avengers: Infinity War. During the Kids’ Choice Awards Sunday night, a special clip from the movie aired that showed us how Thor made it aboard the Guardians of the Galaxy’s ship.
Even though the scene lets us see what happens just before the kicker at the end of the first Infinity War trailer (see: “Who the hell are you guys?“), it still doesn’t explain what Thor was doing just floating about in the first place.
Check out the clip below:
First, let’s remember where we last left the two groups. We saw Thor at the end of last year in Thor: Ragnarok. After the destruction of Asgard, Thor and co. board a large vessel that is ominously overshadowed by an even larger ship.
The Guardians also had their last adventure earlier last year in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Star-Lord and the other Guardians have a send-off for Yondu, and Nebula exclaims to Gamora that she wants to kill Thanos herself.
And now we’re here. So how do these two movies lead to the latest Infinity War scene? There are a few situations that could have led to that outcome.
Thanos attacks the Asgardians’ ship
This is the most popular theory floating around the Internet so far. As the theory goes, the Asgardians will be visited by Thanos’ ship (the spaceship overshadowing them at the end of Thor: Ragnarok). But what happens from there has fans split:
Outcome 1: The Asgardians die
The fun and games from Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and Thor: Ragnarok will be over come Infinity War. There’s already talk of Infinity War being a darker movie than its predecessors, and this theory could be one of the reasons why.
On this branch of the theory, Thanos takes control of the Asgardians’ ship and completely wreaks havoc. That explains why we see so much debris around Thor as he floats in space. That’s the remnants of his ship, plus or minus some unfortunately dead Asgardians.
In the clip, Peter Quill asks “How is this dude even alive?” That signals that something terribly bad went down. Possibly even deadly. And who’s terrifying and deadly? Thanos.
Meanwhile, Loki has probably been taken by Thanos as a prisoner — we all know he looks like he’s in big trouble in the trailer — and not much else is known about the fate of his character. Some think he’s doomed to die at the hands of Thanos after he’s captured.
Outcome 2: The Asgardians survive
A theory with a brighter outlook has a happy ending for the Asgardian clan. According to a theory found by a Redditor, Loki is to thank for the Asgardians’ safety. Loki might make a trade: his life for his people’s. But would Thanos be likely enough to spare the nomads in return for keeping Loki prisoner? Maybe.
Given the events in the first Avengers, Loki seemed to have failed Thanos’ mission. What went down in the battle in New York left Loki defeated. Thanos didn’t get the Space Stone in the Tesseract. And the Mind Stone left in the scepter was handed over to S.H.I.E.L.D. That means Loki was responsible for two Infinity Stones, and he blew it. We’re not sure how forgiving of Loki Thanos will be.
And so, while the Asgardians are saved, the theory goes on to say that Thor won’t be so lucky. He’ll get beaten by Thanos and sent out into space — ultimately leading him to run into the Guardians crew.
The Asgardians get attacked another way
Aside from the biggest theory, there’s still a tiny chance that Thanos won’t be the person to destroy the ship.
Although some could have thought Thor encountered the Guardians’ ship at the end of Ragnarok, it doesn’t account for Thor ending up in space and landing on their ship.
Otherwise, Loki might be up to more of his tricks and will try to take the space colony for his own. His whole character arc has been characterized by him wanting to become king by any means necessary. So him ejecting Thor into space to gain control doesn’t seem uncharacteristic of him.
Related Story: Why Thanos needs to be a great villain in Avengers: Infinity War
There’s a lot more weight to support the argument that Thanos is the one responsible for sending Thor into space, but it’s always fun to think of the other possibilities.