Thor: Ragnarok Review - 9 Ups & 4 Downs

6. It Works As A Stand-Alone

For months, it's felt like we were being primed to receive Thor: Ragnarok as the final step towards Infinity War (because Black Panther would be a more pure stand-alone). With that in mind, the question of how an Infinity Stone would play into the plot - with theories suggesting that either Odin or Heimdall or Hela secretly had one - was obsessively picked apart.

But Thor: Ragnarok is not an Infinity War stepping stone. Sure, there are links to the wider MCU, but it's no more tied to Thanos' story than Spider-Man: Homecoming is, which - on reflection - was the best idea. It means an already complex story is given more space to play out without the shadow of Infinity War standing over it and distracting from the drama.

Crucially, that means the drama and the high-stakes in here are never diluted by the impending appearance of an even bigger threat. The drama is respectfully framed, which helps build the mythology of Hela and Ragnarok itself, and thanks to how the end is set up, there absolutely is lots of scope for this to turn into a longer Thor movie story. And after this, that's a great thing.