Thor (Chris Hemsworth) wasn't always supposed to get his eye back during Avengers: Infinity War. Over the last two years, the god of thunder has gone through quite the transformation. Taika Waititi saved the Thor franchise by giving the character a much-needed overhaul in Thor: Ragnarok, both in terms of his personality and appearance. His golden locks were shaved, Mjolnir destroyed, and — at the very end — his returned sister Hela cut out his eye.

When Anthony and Joe Russo then got ahold of Thor for Avengers: Infinity War, they kept most of this intact but made changes along the way. Without Mjolnir, they gave Thor his giant ax Stormbreaker and leaned further into the tragic arc that Thor has had in the MCU. But, they also went back on Thor's eye loss by having Rocket give him a new one. The multi-colored eyes for Thor has since become his standard look, with Avengers: Endgame continuing it while making changes to Thor's appearance of its own. But, giving Thor a new eye was not something Marvel always planned to do.

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In the recently released The Art of Avengers: Endgame book, concept artist Wesley Burt revealed some early designs for Thor in Avengers: Endgame. The art shows Thor after he killed Thanos and retreated to New Asgard, where he put on a bit of weight. But, these images also still depict Thor with his eye patch. As revealed by Burt, the reason for this was that moment was not in Avengers: Infinity War's script at that point in development.

He didn't have the cyborg eye at this point in the script that he gets in Infinity War, so I was still giving him eye patches or giving him the sunglasses with one dark lens."

https://imgur.com/gallery/6pNPcYA

Although a small moment, the eye patch was a clear and constant reminder of what Thor recently went through. His new eye may be a different color than his real one, but it is easier to overlook. Thor having an eye patch was a visual representation of him following in his father's footsteps to be king of Asgard. Since he ultimately decides to give up that title after the tough few years following Infinity Wars though, perhaps it was decided that him getting a replacement eye better fit Thor's next arc.

After Avengers: Endgame, Thor is surprisingly the only original Avenger who still has a future in the MCU. Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) are off the board. Black Widow's (Scarlett Johansson) solo film will likely be her last appearance, since she (appears to have) died in the events of Endgame. Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) will pass his bow and arrow to Kate Bishop on Disney+, and the future of Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) remains a mystery. Hemsworth, on the other hand, is returning to star as Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder, making him the first character to have four solo MCU films. But, the movie will also see Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) return to the franchise and become Mighty Thor. If the MCU is going to have an eye-patched Thor in the future, it may need to be Jane who loses an eye next after the reversal featured in Avengers: Infinity War.

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