'Thor: Ragnarok' Will Prove There's More To Thor Than A Magic Hammer

Later this year, Thor: Ragnarok will set the God of Thunder on his last adventure before he reassembles with the Avengers during the Infinity War. This time, Thor will have to overcome challenges the likes of which he's yet to encounter.

Hela, the greatest obstacle, is someone Thor has no idea about how to beat. And when we account for Hela shattering the hammer into pieces, Thor has quite a task ahead of him if he wants to stop the queen of the underworld. That said, we shouldn't place our bets on Hela beating Thor, just because he no longer has his hammer.

Thor is worthy in many ways, but many of his attributes tend to go overlooked when swinging his mighty hammer is often enough to get his point across. Yet his underlying qualities are what make him worthy of being a god, and an Avenger. That's probably what Waititi wanted people to realize with his latest comments on Thor: Ragnarok.

Is Thor going to become a stronger hero in Ragnarok?

During an interview with IGN, Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi added some new info about Thor's more personal journey in the film as he talked about the challenges the veteran hero will face. Here's what the director had to say:

"I think we really wanted to challenge Thor in this film. He's challenged more than in any of the other films. He loses the hammer, which is the source of his power, and he's really on the back foot most of the film. We didn't want him to be able to utilize magic, or to have Loki's magic. We didn't want him to have too many advantages. He had to really find his way out of this predicament using his brain and using his friends."

What we should really pay attention to in Waititi's comments is the fact that Ragnarok is being set up to develop Thor's character as a whole. We've seen some development in his previous appearances, but Thor has yet to experience the situations he's about to encounter in Ragnarok.

Without his hammer, Thor will have to rely more heavily on his own intelligence and ingenuity to outwit foes. I think that's what Waititi wants the audience to know going in to the movie.

Will Thor survive the ordeal?

People see Thor as merely the hammer of the Avengers, but he's just as crafty, if not more so, than any other member of the team. Thor can think up battle strategies to stop an adversary he can't beat with brute strength, evidenced by his fight with the Destroyer. Now, he's in a similar situation, hammerless and about to go toe-to-toe with Hela, the goddess of the dead.

All things said, Thor has shown that he can hold his own without Mjolnir, so we should give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to thinking up efficient strategies. That said, Thor and his team will have to work together to come up with a winning plan because taking Hela head-on won't work in Ragnarok.

If they're able to accomplish this, while saving Asgard, Thor will come across as a more well-rounded hero, and no longer be taken for granted in future conflicts. But more importantly, Thor's upcoming adventure will prove to anyone who's doubted Thor's place amongst the Avengers, that he stands to be one of the team's more developed heroes. Ragnarok is just set to drive that point across to Marvel fans everywhere, when they see Thor make his comeback in Avengers: Infinity War.

(Source: IGN)