Thor Almost Didn't Get His Eye Back in Avengers: Infinity War

Throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe, few characters have been dealt a rougher hand than the God of Thunder as Thor has lost both of his parents, his brother, and his sister (who tried to kill him), lost his hammer multiple times, was put into a bit of a funk after battling Thanos. But one of the most recognizable changes in the movies occurs in Thor: Ragnarok when Hela damages one of his eyes. He later gets a cybernetic replacement courtesy of Rocket in Avengers: Infinity War, but it looks like that wasn't always in the plans for Marvel Studios.

In the book Avengers: Endgame - The Art of the Movie, we get a look at different designs of "Bro Thor" where he's in all of his Big Lebowski-esque glory — though he's still rocking the eyepatch.

Art of Avengers Endgame - Thor with eyepatch

This makes it clear that Marvel Studios considered keeping the eyepatch for Thor, making it a somewhat permanent mark for the character's future in the MCU. Concept artist Wesley Burt revealed that the change had yet to be made for the Infinity War script, meaning they were planning the eyepatch for Avengers: Endgame.

"He didn't have the cyborg eye at this point in the script that he gets in Infinity War, so I was still giving him eye patches or giving him the sunglasses with one dark lens," Burt explained.

Avengers: Endgame co-writer Christopher Markus previously explained the decision to alter Thor for the film came out of the changes made in his solo movies.

"Basically from his first movie, he is headed for the throne. He has all this burden of purpose on him," Markus said to the Los Angeles Times. "And so his arc in all these movies is learning to let go of what people expect of him and embrace what he himself feels he is," the writer continues. "It turns out Hemsworth is a really good actor. He's not just gorgeous, he's funny. It's [been] such a great second half of the MCU for him. I'm really, really happy that that all came about."

It remains to be seen if the changes made to the character will stick for Thor: Love and Thunder, the next film in Odinson's saga. We won't have to wait much longer to find out, however, because some exciting news is beginning to develop on that front.

According to a new report, actor Christian Bale is in talks to join the film in a major role, though there are no details of who the former Batman actor would play.

We'll find out as Thor: Love & Thunder gears up for its release on November 5, 2021.