Many people were disappointed that the first Thor film only showed three of the nine realms, and spent the majority of its in the realm that we already know. The sequel, Thor: The Dark World to be released this year, promises to show at least two more realms, if not all of the remaining six realms.
The Nine Realms of Thor are difficult thing to understand, even for comic book fans. Before the film arrives, here is a crash course on the nine realms.
WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THOR AND THOR: THE DARK WORLD
1. Midgard (AKA Earth)
This is the place that we know best of the nine realms. It is the home of the humans including Thor’s love interest Jane Foster, Darcy Lewis, Dr Erik Selvig and The Avengers.
Earth exists in a different dimension to the other realms however there are a number of ways to travel between Earth and the other realms. The Bifrost Bridge was a direct connection between Asgard and the other realms, but it was broken by Thor at the end of the first film. Thor returned to Earth in The Avengers using the magic of his father Odin.
Thor’s connection to Earth runs deeper than his inexplicable love for Jane Foster. He has connections to Earth through his biological mother Gaea. Gaea is better know as Mother Nature, the primeval Goddess of Earth. There are no indications that Gaea will be mentioned in The Dark World.
We are currently seeking Film contributors on WhatCulture. To find out more about the perks of being a Film contributor, click here.
4 Comments
Thank you for posting this article – i have always had trouble with the 9 realms and who populates what. Especially the realms where Hel and Surtur are as i always assumed they were the same!
Really informative article, thanks!
Fellow columnist!
Excellent article! I am new to the Marvel realm (pun totally intended and I’m a DC guy mostly) and really enjoyed this piece. I really knew nothing of Thor when the film came out several years ago, much like my seeing The Lord of the Rings trilogy with no knowledge of that story, and was on the edge of my seat for most of the film. I have no real clue of the 9 realms, and after reading this, I am way more excited for sequel The Dark World. Until this reading, I was really on the fence about it, borderline not interested! Thanks again!
Very nicely done!
For those readers who want to know more about the Surtur Saga and Malekith, the whole thing is collected in “Thor Visionaries: Walter Simonson” Vols. 1 through 3. (Actually, 3 is more of a coda to 2, but it’s extremely good and features Thor!Frog). Simonson’s “The Mighty Thor” is one of the greatest comic book runs of all time, and apart from the five Visionaries, the whole story is collected in an omnibus which is well worth the time, money and backache created by lugging around an eight-pound book.