Guardians of the Galaxy connection teased for Thor: Ragnarok

We know that Thor crash lands on the Guardians of the Galaxy’s ship in Avengers: Infinity War thanks to a trailer that played at Disney’s D23 expo, but will the misfit Guardians meet the God of Thunder before then?

[Warning: The following may contain spoilers for Thor: Ragnarok.]

According to various reports from a Thor: Ragnarok set visit last year, concept art for the film includes a number of Guardians references. Slashfilm reports that one piece of concept art from Thor: Ragnarok includes the Milano, the ship that Star-Lord pilots in Guardians of the Galaxy. Another piece illustrates the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum’s character) talking to the Broker, the sketchy salesman that Star-Lord tried to sell that stolen orb to in the original Guardians of the Galaxy.

While intriguing, it’s not confirmation that Star-Lord and his ragtag team of a-holes will appear in Ragnarok. We know that the Grandmaster is the brother of the Collector, Benicio del Toro’s character from the first Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor: The Dark World, who is also on the hunt for Infinity Stones.

Will we get an appearance from the Collector in Ragnarok? That seems more likely than any of the Guardians. Again, the trailer that we saw from Avengers: Infinity War seemed to suggest that the Guardians were meeting Thor for the first time after he landed on their ship. Unless that particular scene was from Ragnarok, why would the Guardians be so surprised at the god who just appeared before them if they had previously met?

It seems pretty obvious there will be some connection between the Guardians films and Ragnarok. Producer Brad Winderbaum told ScreenRant that elements of Guardians will be included in Ragnarok, but didn’t elaborate whether that meant the Guardians themselves or just aspects of the films.

“We’re definitely leaning into Jack [Kirby] more heavily than Guardians,” Winderbaum said. “There are elements of Guardians that will work their way into our film, both stylistically and narratively. In the sense that, like all the Earthbound heroes feel like they’re living and breathing in the same air, certainly now that we’re in space it feels, in a very MCU way, that we’re living and breathing in the same air.”

Even if the Guardians don’t meet up with Thor in Ragnarok, we know for certain they’ll encounter one another in Avengers: Infinity War.

Thor: Ragnarok will be released on Nov. 3, 2017. Avengers: Infinity War is scheduled to hit theaters May 4, 2018.