Heartwarming / Thor: Ragnarok

Film:

Thor Odinson and Bruce Banner, Putting the Band Back Together.

• While Loki's play in Asgard is essentially trying to make himself look like the good guy and play the victim, it could also be viewed as his way of genuinely apologizing to Thor for everything he had done, including that time he turned him into a frog.
  • It also seems like Loki has accepted his Jotun heritage, at the very least he's fine with all of Asgard knowing about it, if the inclusion of the kid colored blue is any indication.
  • The play also includes Jane Foster. Considering that Word of God confirmed that Loki-as-Odin indeed was the one who wrote the playscript, it's rather sweet that Loki doesn't forget her and the Asgardians seem okay with it.
  • "I didn't do it for him" is sweet enough but apparently Loki thought it was important enough for all Asgard to know that he really, really loves his brother, and that he 'died' trying to save him.
  • Notice that the play isn't just called "The Tragedy of Prince Loki." It's "The Tragedy of Loki of Asgard."
  • When "Odin" says that people should commemorate Loki, Thor agrees wholeheartedly.
• It's brief but after Loki discovers that Jane dumped him (or he dumped her, mutual dumping), he pats Thor on the shoulder in a somewhat comforting way.
• After leaving the audience worried for three whole years that Loki may have murdered Odin after taking his identity and throne, it turns out that he loved him enough to merely leave him in the provincial comforts of a mortal retirement home, with his memories of godhood blocked out.
  • What's more, it seems that four years spent among humanity has softened Odin's heart; because as soon as he broke the magical amnesia that was forced upon him, he warmly and kindly declares to his sons that he loves them both; and even chuckles how proud Frigga would have been of how strong Loki's magic has become. The joy on the Frost Giant's face from finally earning his father's love is his most sincere moment of happiness in the MCU series so far.
  • Given it crosses over into Tear Jerker territory, Thor, Odin, and Loki sitting down by the Norwegian cliffs to admire the view.
  • Even though Thor is absolutely furious after Odin dies and seems seconds away from beating up Loki, when Hela begins to appear the brothers just share a knowing look and step up to confront her together.
• Loki's first words to Thor when they meet each other again on Sakaar? "You're alive?!" Compare Thor's first words to Loki in The Avengers, their first encounter after Loki had apparently committed suicide at the end of Thor:
  Thor: Where is the Tesseract?
  Loki: I missed you too.
• Crosses into Tear Jerker: When Thor is in the dungeons before his gladiator match, he starts to pray to send his father's soul to Valhalla and Loki, who just appeared as an illusion behind him, joins in.
  • While Loki says he could jeopardize his position with the Grandmaster by helping Thor in front of him, he offers his help anyways and talks about having the Grandmaster meet with an 'accident' and suggests that both of them could rule in his stead, not just himself. When Loki realizes that Thor plans to go back to Asgard to stop Hela he worriedly points out that Hela is stronger than both of them together and how Thor most likely doesn't stand a chance against her.
  • Loki could perfectly use the situation to point out that he isn't actually related to Hela, but he nevertheless calls her "our sister", showing Thor that they're in this together.
  • Also in the same scene, Loki tells Thor he knows exactly how he feels learning Hela was the first born and not him ("Being told you're one thing and then learning it's all a fiction"). He doesn't even act patronizing or rub it in Thor's face. He really does sympathize with Thor.
• Thor telling Korg about Mjölnir, and all the adventures the God of Thunder had with his trusty hammer. Although Korg misunderstands a few parts of the story, the heartwarming part comes when he makes an analogy that Mjölnir is like a good friend who died, and Thor is sharing stories about it like it were such a friend. Thor quietly agrees, Korg isn't too far off the mark.
• Korg is so sweet and good-natured. He tried to start a revolution and ended up in a gladiator pit, and he's still friendly to everyone, trying to remind people to clean the blood off their weapons after use. When Thor was arguing with illusion-Loki, he tried to help scare away the "ghost". He took Loki's crack about being in desperate need of leadership as a genuine offer of help, rather than a Stealth Insult.
• When Thor comes to learn the bounty hunter who captured him is a Valkyrie, Thor is excited and tells her all about how he wanted to grow up to be a Valkyrie when he was a child. Though his words are nothing but prattle to her, it's one of the first moments where he expresses friendliness towards her.
• Hela's Pet the Dog moment when she mourns her deceased pet giant wolf Fenris and then revives it shows that, despite being a cut-throat Goddess of Death, Hela has some capacity for affection. Also, her outrage at the fact her undead Berzerkers, once Einherjar of Asgard's army, have been hidden away in a crypt by Odin like a bad secret when in her time, they were given hero's funerals and accorded burial honours in the throne room suggests at one point she did care about the soldiers under her command.
• The Hulk's fans love him, and he seems to love them too, as he spends some time playing to the crowd before noticing Thor — and they're going nuts! For a guy usually feared, even by his own teammates, that's got to feel great.
  • It is just so refreshing and touching to see crowds upon crowds of people — for once — cheering for the Hulk. Genuinely cheering. You just can't help but feel so happy and proud for the big guy.
• It doesn't last long, but Thor is overjoyed to see the Hulk again after his friend's mysterious disappearance in Avengers: Age of Ultron. His face lights up like a little kid seeing his best friend again.
  Thor: Loki! Look who it is!
  • Thor tries to use Natasha's "lullaby" to calm Hulk down. It doesn't work, but the fact that he even tries that shows that, not only does he consider a non-combative effort, he tries his ally's non-combative effort.
  • After the fight Hulk is his usual grumpy self, but actually seems glad Thor is there, later saying he doesn't want Thor to leave. The film also strongly implies that Thor's survival after Hulk's apparent finishing blow is not necessarily due to him being Asgardian.
• Thor and Hulk end up having a heated argument about whether or not they should return to Earth, with Hulk thinking that the people of Earth hate him and that the other Avengers see him as an idiot. As tensions rise, Thor loses his temper and spitefully shouts that everybody does indeed hate Hulk... only to immediately take it back and try to comfort Hulk when he realizes how over-the-line it was to say that. Not only is it sweet, but it shows how much Thor's grown as a person since we first met him; the old Thor probably wouldn't have cared that he hurt his friend's feelings, but now he's matured enough to really think about how what he does affects other people.
• Hearing the Hulk speak is kind of heartwarming, since he sounds so innocent and naive and at least as Adorkable as Bruce Banner.
  • There's also the fact that for once, we see Hulk join in on the character-driven conversations that made the MCU so unique. He's not smashing, he's not roaring, he's not fleeing from the government. He's sitting down, shooting the shit with Thor.
  • And he's actually quite clever and intelligent, agreeing that he and Thor are indeed like fire, but where Thor smolders, Hulk rages.
    • After Hulk makes the raging/smoldering comparison, Thor chuckles in a manner of friendly agreement.
• Hulk's friendship with Valkyrie is one, even if they don't get as much time to interact on-screen as she does with Thor. It's notable that even when he turns back to Banner that Bruce has a fond (but vague) recollection of her, making it one of the few things both sides of the character can agree on. Valkyrie also expresses concern for her friend and rather quickly realizes that Bruce is Hulk. At one point Valkyrie and Hulk play-fight and it's one of the only times we've ever seen the Hulk laugh in a non-threatening context.
  • Hulk is the only person Valkryie shows easy, unguarded affection towards. Save for the scene where she irritably orders him to evacuate Asgard with them instead of continuing to try to fight, she's very warm and affectionate towards him, and in that scene, though a bit grumbly, he immediately listens to her, grabs her and Thor, and takes them up to the ship. Even when Thor uses her friendship with Hulk to lure her into the room under false premises so that Thor can talk to her, all her irritation and disbelief is directed towards Thor. Her sensing Hulk in Bruce might be why she just rolls with Thor suddenly having this unknown person following him around instead going, 'No, seriously, who is this person, and why you are making escape plans with him? What makes you think he's trustworthy?', especially after it's established the untrustworthy Loki and Bruce do know one another.
• When Thor gets to the Quinjet, Hulk chases after him to destroy the Quinjet, so that Thor can stay and he doesn't lose his friend. His first reaction when Thor leaves through the window is to shout, "Friend stay!" Even after fighting and arguing, Hulk still knows Thor is his friend and he'd be sad for him to leave. He even tells Thor that he can be "home" in his suite.
• What makes Hulk shift back into Banner? Seeing Natasha's recording on the ship.
  • When Hulk does become Bruce again, one of the first things he asks is: is Natasha okay?
  • When Thor tried to use Natasha's lullaby, it failed spectacularly. When Hulk sees an old recording of Natasha asking him to land the quinjet, he turned back into Bruce. The lullaby never actually did anything, it was always just Natasha that brought the man out of the monster.
• When Bruce is freaking in the Quinjet and Thor mentions Tony, Bruce perks up and sounds hopeful for the first time when asking if he's there as well. Science Bros going strong.
  • The Quinjet's voice recognition is programmed with Tony's signature snark, as it forces Thor to acknowledge himself as "Point Break". Meanwhile, Bruce easily uses his own name and is referred to by the Quinjet's computer as "the strongest Avenger." Tony has serious respect for both Banner and the Hulk. There's also the fact that Thor remembers the nickname Tony Stark gave him, even though they haven't seen each other in years.
  • Considering how Tony built the "Veronica" system to contain the Hulk, he's probably run the calculations to determine exactly how strong the Strongest Avenger is.
• Just how much Thor seems to love being an Avenger, really. He's almost constantly mentioning being a part of the team, and he even tries to name his new team with Bruce and Valkyrie 'the Revengers'.
• Seeing Bruce Banner so happy and enthusiastic, even fist-bumping Thor and giving an excited "Yeah!" when he manages to give Topaz the slip. It's so rare to see Bruce in such a lighter mood, and is especially poignant coming off of how traumatized and melancholic he was in Age of Ultron following the Hulk's rampage in Johannesburg, South Africa. Quite possibly, seeing the Hulk progress into something beyond just a raging monster and become a genuine hero has, in a strange way, helped Bruce feel a lot better about himself.
• Also funny, but the story about what Thor and Loki did as children; Loki turned himself into a snake, Thor's favorite animal, and when Thor picked him up, Loki would change back and yell, "BLEH It's me!" before stabbing Thor (presumably with something non-lethal, considering how young they both were at the time). When the camera focuses on Loki, he's looking away with a smile on his face, recalling the memory with fondness.
  • When Thor brings Hulk up to speed about the past two years, he tells him that Loki isn't dead after all and he just sounds so happy:
    Thor: Loki is alive, can you believe it?! He's up there!
  • The scene where the brothers finally fight side on side again as they make their way to the hangar to get the Grandmaster's ship. Especially heartwarming is when Loki is distracted for a moment chatting to Thor and is almost ambushed by a guard, but Thor has his back and promptly takes the guard out.
  • When the two are traveling in an elevator, Thor tells Loki that he used to think the world of him, and while he wishes they would fight side-by-side forever, he knows that's almost impossible. Their paths diverged a long time ago, and he's accepted that.
    • Loki's expressions, though, show that he's not at all pleased with the possibility that they may have gotten to the point where true reconciliation is impossible — he may give lip service to the idea that "it's probably best if we never see each other again," but he's not happy when Thor agrees. This emotional disconnect between the pragmatic solution of going their separate ways and the emotion-based solution of joining together for a hopeless final battle may be what prompts Loki to do the Han Solo thing by the end of the film.
  • While the "get help" scene is Thor pressuring Loki to take part in a tactic he detests, the fact that they can refer to the move by such a simple phrase shows that they've used it many times over the centuries; Thor even calls it a "classic" that "works every time."
• Loki attempts to betray Thor again (to get rewarded by the Grandmaster and/or avoid punishment), but this time Thor is prepared: He uses a shock disc on Loki, and briefly sticks around to lecture him for becoming predictable and not choosing to change or grow. He sums it up with "You'll always be the God of Mischief, but you could be more"; this phrase specifically might have been what convinces Loki to return to Asgard to help.
• Before the battle starts, Thor brings Valkyrie a suit of Valkyrie armor. Valkyrie, who has been snarky and quick to brush things off the entire film, is speechless and visibly needs a moment to collect herself.
  • After the above scene, she thanks him by saying "Your Majesty? ...Don't die." Not only is it probably the most sincere she's been, it's also a much kinder Call-Back to how she mockingly addressed him as "Your Majesty" when she captured him.
• The fact that Loki comes back to help with the evacuation of Asgard. He and Thor seemingly both agreed that their paths diverged and it would be for the best if they never saw each other again. Evidently, this, struck Loki quite a bit, so when he got the chance he opted to come to their aid. There was really no reason for Loki to come back, not even after the final battle, but he did. Not only that, but Thor seems to have known he would — Thor's first line once they have a moment is "You're late," implying not only this, but that he fully expected Loki to quickly get out of the predicament he left him in, an interesting comment on Thor's appraisal of Loki's skills.
  • Somewhat Fridge-Heartwarming is when you take into account their last encounter, when Loki admitted that he'd like to stay in Sakaar since he doesn't think he 'fits in' with Asgard, and Thor acknowledges that Sakaar is perfect for Loki. Loki's last betrayal was even seemingly motivated by this fact, as Loki likely thought that betraying Thor might give him a chance to maintain his new position in Sakaar. Yet, when Thor and Asgard needed him, and Korg and his rebels needed an escape, Loki chose to leave Sakaar behind for them. It's such a big personal sacrifice that really shows that not only does Loki really care for Thor, but he is a hero in his own right, deep down.
  • Thor's genuinely happy, proud and relieved laughter when he sees Loki return.
    • Mirrored by a knowing smirk from Loki when Thor unleashes the "biggest lightning bolt in the history of lightning."
• Heimdall, one of Loki's major dissenters in previous movies, greeting him with "Welcome home." when he arrives with the gladiators.
  • Also, his reminding Thor that Asgard is not a place, but a people. Looks like he and Odin share the same wisdom.
• A subtle detail, but when Loki returns to Asgard to return to help the refugees escape (claiming to be their savior), the people don't react with derision. In this dark hour, they are genuinely grateful he came in the nick of time. Guess they really did come to see him as a good guy during those years he pretended to be Odin.
• During Thor's conversation with his dead father while he's about to lose against Hela, Thor tells him that's he's not as strong as him. Odin's answer? "No. You're stronger."
• Skurge sacrificing and redeeming himself so that Heimdall, the Asgardian civilians, and the gladiators can escape Asgard. Doubles as a Dying Moment of Awesome.
• Korg begins proposing that they rebuild Asgard as a haven for all peoples and aliens throughout the universe. Alas, Surtur makes sure there isn't anything they can rebuild, but Korg's heart was in the right place and he did want to try to provide some hope to the Asgardians not only that they could rebuild, but make their home even better.
• Throughout the film, Thor tosses objects at Loki in order to check if he's real or just an illusion. When Thor is recovering on the escaping ship, Loki appears behind him. Thor thinks he's an illusion and wishes he wasn't, so they can hug. He tosses an object at Loki... only for Loki to catch it with probably the most sincere smile he's ever had.
  Loki: I'm here.
• The film's final scene is this, mixed with an Awesome Moment of Crowning. At the end of five films, after conflict, self-doubt, and fear that the position would change him, Thor finally ascends to the throne as King of Asgard. The film ends with him deciding to take the Asgardians and the Resistance Fighters to rebuild their civilization on Earth.
  • Crosses over into Funny Moments, when Thor turns around in his new "throne" to give a small friendly wave to the people, showing that to some degree he's already a Father to His Men. If you look closely, you can see a little girl in the background waving back at him.
  • Loki stepping forward to stand on his brother's side. The whole crowning scene is accompanied by Thor's theme from the first movie and it couldn't fit better.
• The mid-credits scene where Thor, leading the refugee Asgardians to Earth, is approached by Loki, who's concerned about how humanity will react to Loki returning. Thor admits it's probably going to be difficult, but assures Loki that everything's going to be fine. However, their heartwarming moment is interrupted by the arrival of another ship...

Behind The Scenes:

• Thor's "He's a friend from work" line wasn't the result of an improvisation or a scriptwriter, but a suggestion by a Make-A-Wish child on set that day who was talking with Chris Hemsworth between takes. Chris loved the idea and it made its way into the movie.

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