Thor: Ragnarok first look at Hela, Valkyrie and a clean cut Thor revealed

With eight months to go until Thor: Ragnarok hits theaters, we finally got our first look of Valkyrie, Hera and a clean-cut Thor in a newly released photo today from Entertainment Weekly.

The upcoming cover not only shows Thor with a very short haircut, but he's also holding two swords instead of Mjolnir. This coincides directly with the official synopsis of the film released back in January, which is as follows

Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok – the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization – at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger – the Incredible Hulk!

Thor is imprisoned on Sakaar, which is where he will be forced to fight the Hulk as noted. Inside the arena where it takes place, the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) often pits fighters against each other in unfair setups gladiator style. There is no reason for why he is using these swords specifically, but since he is a prisoner it could just be because those are what he was provided with to fight. Hemsworth himself commented on the setting of Sakaar in the upcoming issue by saying

“[Sakaar is] basically where every wormhole across the universe dumps out its trash, so you get people from all walks of life with all sorts of incredible abilities and powers. No one cares what prince or king Thor may have been in another world. Also, his strength is pretty easily matched with those he finds himself amongst.” Case in point: Sakaar’s most successful (and popular) fighter is The Hulk.

The interesting word in that statement by Hemsworth is 'wormhole'. We know that Doctor Strange will be featured in a supposedly substantial role, as some early PR by Marvel for the film in January issued the following statement

“If you need even more intergalactic, world-saving action, ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ in November brings together Thor, the Hulk, and Doctor Strange to face off against intergalactic baddies both familiar and new.”

There are still a lot of unanswered questions about Thor: Ragnarok as well. Where is Mjolnir? Does Hela (Kate Blanchett) have the final Infinity Stone? Does Heimdall have the final Infinity Stone? That and much more have Thor: Ragnarok shaping up to be one of if not the most anticipated superhero film to release this year.

No trailer has been released yet, but Thor: Ragnarok hits theaters on November 3rd, 2017. Take a look at the photo below compliments of Entertainment Weekly.