'Captain America: Civil War' Will Set Up 'Thor: Ragnarok'

Thor: Raganarok is still a couple of years at this point, but you can bet the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be laying the groundwork for it long before that. Jaimie Alexander, who's set to return as Sif in the sequel, indicates that next year's Captain America: Civil War will tie into Thor: Ragnarok. More on the Civil War Thor connection after the jump. 

Alexander teased the Civil War Thor connection to the LA Times:

Yeah, there's a lot of great stuff they've peppered in through "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," "The Avengers," "Captain" will have some stuff. There's just all kind of Easter eggs and hints, if you're really paying attention. They're so good at interweaving everything throughout those films.

Her comments are a bit surprising if only because Thor is one of the few major MCU characters who isn't in Civil War. (At least, not that we know of.) But of course, that doesn't preclude the possibility of surprise cameos, spoken references, credits stingers, and what have you.

Despite her knowledge of the Civil War Thor connection, Alexander demurred when pressed for more details on Thor: Ragnarok:

Marvel, I think on purpose, they don't tell me certain things. Because they know I'll be like, "So here's what's gonna happen." But I do know I will be in "Thor 3" and that Sif will have a very pivotal part in that movie. I just can't tell you what because I'll get shot.

The interconnectedness of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is part of what makes it fun, but it can also become a real drag when deployed clumsily. Case in point: One of the weakest parts of Avengers: Age of Ultron was Thor's vision quest storyline, which had little to do with the main narrative and was clearly just shoehorned in to 1) give marquee star Chris Hemsworth something to do and 2) set up future movies.

Whatever Captain America: Civil War has in store for Thor: Ragnarok, let's hope it's incorporated a little more smoothly than that. Captain America: Civil War opens May 6, 2016. Thor: Ragnarok follows on November 3, 2017.