As much as I love Chris Hemsworth in the role of Thor, I've found the standalone THOR movies to be the weakest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Hemsworth is great, as is the rest of the cast and the world itself, but I've just never been completely blown away by either THOR or THOR: THE DARK WORLD. That attitude may change with the release of THOR: RAGNAROK, which looks as though it will be embracing the cosmic weirdness which goes with the character a little more than the previous installments. Pairing the God of Thunder up with the Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) certainly doesn't hurt either.
According to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige while he was speaking with the Toronto Sun, not only will the upcoming THOR: RAGNAROK likely complete the THOR trilogy, but it will also build directly into AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR.
I think that we are finding ourselves as we complete Phase 3 and finish this 22-movie narrative that it’s working out that way. We did three Iron Man films, three Captain America films, three Thor films. Things change drastically in Ragnarok and then build directly into Infinity War.
As the events of THOR: RAGNAROK are mostly cosmic in nature and Thor himself seems to be a little more knowledgeable than the average Avenger when it comes to the Infinity Stones, one of the big ways which RAGNAROK could connect to INFINITY WAR would be the reveal of the final Infinity Stone – the Soul Stone. During an appearance at the Supernova Comic-Con in Australia, Chris Hemsworth apparently said that the Soul Stone would be revealed "real soon." With only THOR: RAGNAROK and BLACK PANTHER now standing between us and AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, my bet would be on RAGNAROK playing host to the big reveal.
Speaking of AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, Kevin Feige said that they're on day 73 of 90 on the Marvel epic, after which they will, "shut down for three weeks and then we start filming untitled Avengers. It is a very big undertaking; both what’s on the screen and what’s going on behind the scenes to make it possible. It is very ambitious." As these two movies are intended to bring the original 22-movie arc to an end, I don't doubt it.
The official synopsis for THOR: RAGNAROK:
In Marvel Studios’ ‘Thor: Ragnarok’, Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok—the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization—at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger—the Incredible Hulk!
THOR: RAGNAROK will hit theaters on November 3, 2017.