MCU: Every Thor Appearance Ranked Worst To Best

With how big the franchise has become, it can't be forgotten just how big of a deal The Avengers was back in 2012. It carried the weight of incredible expectations, having to bring together a bunch of disparate characters and tie together story threads from all their solo franchises into one cohesive narrative, all while ensuring that characters like Captain America and Thor weren't overshadowed by Iron Man's then-dominant popularity, something it pulled off with relative ease.

While Cap and Iron Man's personalities clashed and Bruce Banner struggled with the monster inside of him, Thor's motivations throughout The Avengers were clear: To bring his lost brother back to sanity and back home. Along the way, he had to watch his brother kill Phil Coulson and descend into madness by opening the gateway for the Chitauri, all while everyone posited Loki as the embodiment of pure evil rather than the complex, troubled individual Thor knew he was. The film served as a great payoff to what Thor's first movie set up.

And though he didn't spend much one-on-one time with any of his fellow Avengers, the interactions we did get were suitably perfect, whether it be Tony Stark poking fun at the larger-than-life god or Thor's pairing with the Hulk. With the team's coming together in the end earning everyone Thor's respect and vice versa, the hero ultimately managed to shine in a film loaded with a wealth of colorful characters.