Every new MCU movie is an opportunity to give some old heroes a new style, and so this piece of Avengers: Infinity War concept art suggests a dark and dazzling look for Chris Hemsworth’s character that takes inspiration from Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch’s The Ultimates comic series.
The image comes courtesy of Marvel Studios’ Head of Visual Development Ryan Meinerding, who also provided a little context to his Instagram upload:
“Ultimate Thor! This was an early design pitch I proposed before we knew Thor’s hair would be short at the beginning of Infinity War. It’s always a blast to translate something as directly as possible from the comics! The awesome comic design is by the insanely talented Bryan Hitch.”
As well as the all-black getup, you may have noticed that the God of Thunder’s weapon is looking a little different from the Stormbreaker axe that made the final film. Indeed, it seems that Thor’s replacement for Mjolnir had a few variations in these early stages, with another piece of concept art released earlier this month showing the Avenger wielding the Jarnbjorn axe from the comics. But whichever version the Marvel Studios team had settled on, it’s likely that we still would’ve ended up mocking Thor for failing to go for the head.
As different as the axe might’ve been, things could’ve varied even more for the character’s personal journey, with previous illustrations also revealing how Thor and Rocket were initially intended to fight some giant snakes in Avengers: Infinity War. Obviously things didn’t end up that way in the final film, but it looks like Hemsworth and his furry companion will be wearing another new suit in the upcoming sequel. We’ll find out if the God of Thunder can make up for his mistakes while simultaneously pulling off a fresh look when Avengers 4 comes out on May 3rd, 2019.