How Drax’s Space Pirate Line Defined the New Look for Thor in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’

Marvel’s popular Art Of book series has added another edition to the collection with Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War – The Art of the Movie this week. Arguably Marvel’s most ambitious achievement to date, Infinity War is full of obvious artistic successes and more subtle ones. Thanks to the book’s interview with Ryan Meinerding, Head of Visual Development at Marvel Studios, we have been given new insights into the look and feel of the latest Avengers installment. This is especially true of our favorite Asgardian and the almighty God of Thunder, Thor Odinson.

“Who Thor was going to be in this movie actually took quite a bit of exploration,” Meinerding explains. This is no surprise considering the extremely humorous turn the character took in Ragnarok, followed by the immediate and intense losses the character suffers at the very beginning of Infinity War. The culmination of Thor’s silly and raucous adventure followed by the death of Loki and Heimdall meant the character’s look and feel “could have gone in a lot of different directions.”

He goes on to explain that a pivotal moment in outlining Thor’s Avengers: Infinity War look comes from a Drax line. “Drax describes him as an angel mixed with a pirate,” Meinerding states, “that sort of space-pirate look is where we started gaining some traction — where it wasn’t necessarily a kingly look.”

The transformation from king to pirate is more than just an eye patch. He no longer dons the same royal-looking attire, and Chris Hemsworth does an excellent job of carrying the character as someone who has recently been met with multiple tragedies. “It was more of him being a little bit lost — and he’s lost so much in his life. He’s lost as a character, and we’re trying to represent that with a simpler suit,” Meinerding adds.

In Ragnarok, Thor’s outfit allowed him to continue to show off his muscular arms, but his Infinity War look on the Wakandan battlefield is long-sleeved armor with a darker tone. He still rocks the classic red cape, but it appears dimmer than what we’ve seen cloaked over him in the past.

Whether he’s a god or a pirate, there’s no denying Thor has the look of angel. You can lose your family, friends, and your eye, but when you have the body and face of Chris Hemsworth, there’s only so much a wardrobe can do to convey the character’s journey.

Since Thor (thankfully) survived the snap in Infinity War, we hope to see a lot of him in Avengers 4. If you’re looking for a Marvel fix in the meantime, get can get your own copy of Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War – The Art of the Movie on Amazon.