Here's why Thor has a new haircut in 'Thor: Ragnarok'

Avengers — they’re just like us. They, too, geek out over their favorite larger-than-life heroes.

At least that’s the case in Thor: Ragnarok, which sends the God of Thunder to the planet Sakaar. There, he comes across Valkyrie, a tough-gal warrior played by Tessa Thompson. Turns out he’s a longtime admirer. “Thor is a bit of a fanboy for the Valkyrie, the elite women warriors,” Hemsworth teased in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

But their encounter isn't exactly a friendly Comic-Con meet-and-greet. Thor's only on Sakaar to begin with because of an altercation with Hela (Cate Blanchett), the goddess of death. And she was only able to get that close to Thor to begin with because of Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who took over the Asgardian throne by impersonating Odin at the end of Thor: The Dark World -- and has done a crap job of ruling ever since.

It gets worse. Once Thor lands on Sakaar, he's handed over to the planet's ruler, the Grandmaster (played by Jeff Goldblum, looking like he's lost a fight with a Sephora sample counter). He forces Thor to become a gladiator, and our hero loses his long locks and his beloved Mjolnir in the process. But it's in the arena that Thor is reunited with an old friend. It seems the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) has been busy since we last saw him in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and has regained his swagger as one of the most popular fighters on Sakaar.

The two Avengers then embark on a sort of road trip, which director Taika Waititi promises will provide Hemsworth with plenty of opportunities to show off his comedy chops. “He’s so good and underutilized in that department,” he said. “He’s legitimately one of the funniest things in this film.”

That last part shouldn't really come as a surprise to fans who've already witnessed his scene-stealing turns in Vacation and Ghostbusters -- or even those who caught the "Team Thor: Civil War" shorts directed by Waititi. But it should be a welcome change of pace for the Thor franchise, which has mostly kept Hemsworth in "Serious Noble Hero" mode over the past few films. It's about time this franchise let Hemsworth loosen up a bit and embrace his inner goofball.

Thor: Ragnarok is in theaters November 3.