New Asgard In Avengers: Endgame Pays Off Phase 1 Films

Avengers: Endgame introduced New Asgard - a deliberate callback to the original Thor and Captain America movies. Avengers: Endgame is the climatic end of Marvel's Infinity Saga, and it's designed to be a celebration of the last 11 years' worth of Marvel movies. As such, it's absolutely jam-packed with Easter eggs, callbacks, and references.

The film opens just weeks after the events of Avengers: Infinity War, with Earth's remaining heroes horrified to discover that Thanos has destroyed the Infinity Stones. They had hoped to use the Infinity Gauntlet to undo the snap, but with the Infinity Stones destroyed, it's impossible; they have no choice but to accept their horrific new reality. Over the next five years, Thor and the Asgardian refugees establish a new community on Earth, which they call New Asgard.

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Attentive viewers will note that New Asgard is based in Tønsberg, Norway. Located around 102 km south-southwest of Oslo, it's generally regarded as the oldest town in Norway, founded by Vikings in the 9th Century and the original capital of Iceland. It's actually an important location in the history of the MCU too; the first Thor revealed that the Asgardians fought against the Frost Giants in a military campaign at Tønsberg in around 1,000 AD. Captain America: The First Avenger revealed that Odin had secreted the Tesseract with a Norse cult at Tønsberg, who had faithfully guarded it until the Second World War, when the Red Skrull stole both the Tesseract and a copy of the Book of Yggdrasil. In Iron Man 2, set in 2011, it was still a hotspot monitored by S.H.I.E.L.D. - perhaps indicating they knew the Tesseract had been found there, or that other ancient Asgardian artifacts had been discovered too. A popular theory suggests that Odin returned to Tønsberg to die in Thor: Ragnarok.

It's fitting for Thor and the Asgardians to return to Tønsberg. In the MCU, it's reasonable to assume that Odin and the Asgardians played a major role in establishing the first Icelandic monarchy, given their battle with the Frost Giants was around the time Tønsberg was first established. The Asgardians' influence clearly endured through the millennia, with a Norse cult still extant in the early 20th Century. There's no reason to assume the Red Skull managed to kill everyone who was loyal to the ancient Norse myths, and no doubt a lot more people came to believe in them after Thor's existence became public knowledge in The Avengers. Thor and the Asgardians would have been welcomed at Tønsberg with open arms.

It would certainly make sense for Tønsberg to be the place where Odin passed away in Thor: Ragnarok. The All-Father must have felt a strong affinity for Tønsberg, given he trusted the Vikings of the city enough to give them the Tesseract. Odin charged Thor to remember the place, and even called it home, perhaps hinting that this was the place Thor should take the survivors of Asgard's destruction. At the end of Avengers: Endgame, Thor handed over the Asgardian throne to Valkyrie, charging her to take his place; given the snap had been undone, her first task would presumably be to find the other half of the Asgardian refugees, who would have been dusted before Thor brought his people to Earth.

More: Avengers: Endgame Explains Age Of Ultron's Most Irritating Plot Hole

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