By John Nugent | Posted 12 May 2017

A new issue of Empire is on the horizon, and while Spider-Man adorns the cover, his Marvel stablemate Thor also enjoys plenty of coverage inside the pages. We’ve got our hands on an exclusive image from upcoming Thorquel Thor: Ragnarok – take a look below. Click to embiggen.

Here we see Chris Hemsworth returning as the God Of Thunder for a fifth time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, now sporting a radical new haircut and some colourful new battle gear. As we see him here, he’s on the weird trash-planet named Sakaar ruled over by Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster, about to embark on a gladiatorial battle to the death.

Directed by Taika Waititi — the man behind last year’s Empire Film Of The Year, Hunt For The Wilderpeople — the next entry from the MCU has a bit of a Midnight Run vibe, according to co-star Mark Ruffalo, who told us last year it will be a "road trip across the universe".

For more on Thor: Ragnarok, and over 150 pages of cinematic goodness, be sure to pick up a copy of Empire magazine, on sale in all good and evil newsagents from 18 May. Want to get subscriber-exclusive covers days before anyone else? Subscribe to Empire here.