The hammer is gone and Asgard has fallen. Can Thor and his “team” stop arguing long enough to save the day? Thor: Ragnarok is on its way and this installment promises to be a big one with tons of action, the return of familiar characters, and new characters sharing the screen with everyone’s favorite thunder god!
One of these new characters is the cosmic game player himself, The Grandmaster! While he’s a more obscure Marvel character, The Grandmaster has been appearing in Marvel Comics and annoying Marvel heroes for decades. However, since Thor: Ragnarok will be his first cinematic appearance, we thought it appropriate to get you aqcuainted with Marvel’s cosmic gambler!
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He’s an Elder of the Universe
While much of The Grandmaster’s past is unknown, we do know that he’s one of the “Elders of the Universe” — this means that he’s one of the oldest beings in the Marvel Universe! Supposedly, he’s one of the first intelligent beings since the big bang, but don’t let his age fool you; the Grandmaster is a force to be reckoned with! Among his fellow elders is Ego the living planet, so The Grandmaster, like his co-Elders, is a formidable ancient alien.
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He’s Close with The Collector
Among the many Elders of the Universe, The Grandmaster is more closely associated with Taneleer Tivan, The Collector. The two have often competed in many games set up by The Grandmaster. No matter what form the game takes, things usually become chaotic on a cosmic scale.
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He Loves Using Heroes as Part of His Games
Because his love for epic games is unmatched, he is compelled to make the challenges bigger and better. This compulsion leads to recruiting many Marvel heroes and villains as pawns/players/involuntary contestants like The Avengers, The Thunderbolts, and many others. Usually, he makes them fight each other, which probably makes him a fan of Civil War.
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He Once Challenged Death to a Strategy Game!
When he’s not challenging one of his fellow Elders to a game, The Grandmaster looks for more challenging opponents. On one occasion, he challenged Death itself to a strategy game to resurrect the Collector. He even won the game, but at a cost: little did he know, he had to sacrifice his own life to bring the Collector back. The Grandmaster died and The Collector rose from his grave….but this wasn’t the end for The Grandmaster.
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He Once Got the Justice League to Fight The Avengers!
The Grandmaster forced many Marvel characters to fight each other as part of his numerous contests. However, the Grandmaster also recruited heroes from other universes, including the DC Universe!
When the rogue Guardian Krona came to the Marvel Universe, The Grandmaster challenged him to a game with the fate of both realities in the balance. In an interesting twist, The Grandmaster had the Justice League represent him while The Avengers would fight for Krona. This, of course, resulted in one of the most epic battles in comic book history!
While the teams came together and saved both universes in the end, it appeared that Grandmaster lost to Krona. In reality, this was part of another game he played with the New God, Metron. It was really all a game within a game that determined the fate of two universes, and it proved that The Grandmaster doesn’t mess around when it comes to winning!
Are you excited for Thor: Ragnarok? What do you think of The Grandmaster? Let me know in the comments below!
