It goes without saying that in superhero movies, and in movies in general, the antagonist of any story is generally a villain. The ideal antagonist is generally someone who is the polar opposite of the hero of the story (Joker to Batman, Red Skull to Captain America etc) - but that doesn't necessarily have to be the case, particularly in comic book movies. There have been enough rivalries between sets of characters who aren't villains and the fact that there is a Batman Vs Superman movie in the pipeline is testament to this fact. Thor, for example, has fought against many heroes and characters who aren't purely evil over the course of his history - and they've been some of the best battles he's had! With that in mind, I'm going to take a look at some characters from Thor's history who aren't outright villains who could show up in a movie as his antagonist at some point in the future. Here are five non-outright villains who could serve as antagonists in future Thor movies...
5. Crusader
While it could be argued that Crusader is a villain, I see him as more of a misguided anti-hero. His name is Arthur Blackwood - a seminary student in Chicago, who believed that the church should fight pagans, infidels and anyone who was godless in modern society. When he was dismissed from his seminary for having a spat with one of his superiors, Blackwood visited his family's grave to reminisce about his life. Whilst there, he had a religious vision of all of his ancestors who devoted their lives to serving God and, in this vision, he met the spirit of one of his ancestors who served in the Crusades. The spirit granted him the combined power of all his ancestors and knighted him, and when Blackwood awoke from this vision he found that a sword, a shield and a knight's raiment had all miraculously appeared next to him. He decided to take the sword, call himself the Crusader and use his new-found power to destroy all pagans and infidels. As his first target, he chose Thor, who he believed to be a false god and therefore blasphemous. He attacked Thor at a public assembly and his power was enough to not only match the Asgardian, but also enough to deal him a near-mortal wound. However, Thor reappeared a short time later with his wound healed by Odin and the Crusader's belief in his own power was ruptured (and given that his power was based purely on faith, he was weakened as a result). Thor then shattered the Crusader's sword, causing him to flee filled with doubts about the righteousness of his cause. It would make for a very different movie and perhaps the Crusader wouldn't be enough on his own to fill the antagonist role, but it would make for an interesting side plot in a movie and it would definitely pique my interest.