Who is the Grandmaster? (Jeff Goldblum in Thor: Ragnarok)

After that insanely amazing trailer for Thor: Raganorok, the fans were hyped to say the least. Thor's hammer destroyed, that amazing looking Hela, Loki looking badass as ever, Thor WITHOUT his hammer (shades of Unworthy Thor) and that iconic match-up in the arena between the Odinson and the big green gladiator, Hulk (shades of Planet Hulk). But, in all the hubbub, one character was easily glossed over. Not because he isn't an epic character, but simply because most of the MCU faithful still don't know who he is. I'm speaking of the Grandmaster.

You know, Jeff Goldblum...the guy with the blue stripe on his chin? Not ringing a bell. Well, I'm here to remedy that! When we're done here today, you will be totally up on the background of one of Marvel's most enigmatic cosmic beings.

This is all you need to know about the Grandmaster!

1) The Grandmaster claims to be the Collector's brother

Strangely enough, this character, named En Dwi Gast in the comics, already has connections to the MCU. Although never mentioned before, not given any cameos or post/mid credit scenes, the Grandmaster from the comics lays familial claim to one other scene stealing cosmic being that has already appeared in both Thor:Dark World and the original Guardians of the Galaxy. I'm speaking, of course, to the strange being known as the Collector.

Although never called by this name, the Collector, mentioned by his actual name, Taneleer Tivan, is an obsessive collector of things from across the galaxy. He displays everything from a familiar alien cocoon (Adam Warlock) to Howard the Duck to one of the Infinity Stones itself! He has already leveraged himself as a major player in the galactic MCU.

In the Marvel Comics continuity, the Grandmaster continually referred to the Collector as his BROTHER. They competed many times against each other for sport and the Granmaster even competed and won to bring the Collector back from the dead. He claimed this although it is stated that his kind are 'sole survivors' of their ancient races. So either he uses the word 'BROTHER' loosely or he and his brother, the Collector, are truly the last of their kind.

2) He is a member of the ELDERS OF THE UNIVERSE

Both the Grandmaster and the Collector claim membership in a unique fraternity of sorts. Made up of sole survivors of their individual races, the ELDERS OF THE UNIVERSE are ancient beings that claim their origin from before the big bang that created our universe. Thus, they have lived for millennia and have gather vast volumes of knowledge and power which they use to make themselves near godlike beings.

Now, sense these ELDERS don't live or travel together for the most part, it has become a legend that has built slowly from the early days of Marvel comics. Going back to the original Avengers run, these beings have slowly emerged and challenged Earth's mightiest heroes time and time again.

Other members of the Elders are the Stranger, the Gardner, the Champion, the Runner, the Contemplator and the Possessor. They number about 13 or 14 according to the comics, but this number isn't set in stone as, I'm sure, there are many of these 'ELDERS' who have not emerged from the shadows to take on the Marvel Universe.

3) The Grandmaster is obsessed with games and competition

Each of the Elders of the Universe has developed over their amazingly long lives certain obsessions. And it is these obsessions that have defined them. Taneleer Tivan is obsessed with collecting things. It drives his every motive and controls him to some extent. The other ELDERS find their eternal passions in things like making trades, sowing life into dead planets, being the fastest being alive or to simply exploring the vast reaches of space.

The GRANDMASTER is obsessed with games.

But it's a bit more than that. The reason he is taken by games of all sorts is that he craves competition. He wants a challenge. Much like beings of vast power like KANG the CONQUEROR, he searches far and wide for someone to give him a run for his money. This has, of course, brought him to the Avengers time and time again. But, usually, when he comes to the Avengers, it is not as equals, but as pawns.

How is he so good at games of any sort?

Well that leads us to the next point...

4) He is a virtual encyclopedia of gaming!

Over the Grandmaster's near eternal life span, he has gathered information about every game known to every race ever to exist. From the basic to the exotic, he has studied and mastered it. There isn't many games of chance that he hasn't played and won. But that won't stop him from trying new games, if he can find any. For, if it's been played, the Grandmaster has studied and played it. From basic probability to mastering complex game theory, he has knowledge of it all.

5) The Grandmaster has a vastly superhuman intellect

Besides having a vast library of gaming knowledge and having studied it all, he has a super intellect that allows him to calculate diverse amounts of probabilities within a tenth of a second with amazing accuracy. His recall is near perfect as is his ability to store vast amounts of data on the rules and theory of any game ever.

It is said that he can draw from the 'Power Primordial', that radiation left over from the Big Bang, to do amazing feats. He is known for things like levitation, teleportation as well as maintaining a mental link to his computers on his home-world. It is not known if he comes by these power naturally, by manipulating the 'Power Primordial' or is enhancing his abilities somehow through foreign means, but he is formidable in any situation.

6) The Grandmaster has near infinite power over time and space

In almost all of his 'games' with heroes like the Avengers or the Defenders, he has exercised near perfect and limitless control over travel through time and space.

In his original contest in which he used the Avengers, he sent them to various places in an instant as well as differing times. The endgame was played during World War 2 against the Invaders, a team consisting of old-school Cap, Prince Namor and the original android Human Torch. And, after all of this, he traveled to the far future to finish his 'game with Kang.

It makes you wonder. With all of this manipulation of such forces as time and space, Did he make use at any time of the Infinity Stones of time and space?

Which leads us to this...

7) For a while, the Grandmaster owned an Infinity Stone

He may have never used the Time and Space gems to manipulate their chosen domains, but it has been documented in the comics that he did own the Mind Gem for a short time.

In fact, in Silver Surfer (Vol 3) #19, The ELDERS held five of the Infinity Gems (Mind, Power, Space, Time and Reality) with the Soul Gem being held by another cosmic being, the In-Betweener. Later on, Thanos would win the Mind Gem from the Grandmaster in another of his infamous loses.

(LEFT: Not issue 19, but we see the Elders)

8) He and the Elders tried to restart the universe...TWICE!!

The Elders of the Universe usually drift alone with their own personal obsessions. But there are things that bind them together. The Power Primordial is something that they share, of course. But the very reason they are mentioned as a group at all seems to always bring them together for the 'greater good'.

The fact that they are all nearly immortal and are the sole survivors of their respective races makes them family in a strange way. And, as brothers (did no women survive the big bang?), the share an obsession with the very event that changed all of their lives: the Big Bang.

Even after millennia, they cannot put the Big Bang behind them. In the same Silver Surfer comic listed above, they attempt to destroy Galactus, himself a survivor of the Big Bang and, yet, they don't let him into the Elders club. And, if that weren't enough, they go one step forward and try and reboot the universe through a new Big Bang!

And how do they expect to survive such a thing themselves?

9) Death has refused the Grandmaster as well as all the ELDERS of the UNIVERSE entrance to her domain

Death is a physical character in the Marvel universe. Thanos has courted her and, apparently, the Elders have crossed her one too many times. So much so that she has refused to allow them into her domain. In other words, they can't die because they have no where to go. In a crossover between both East and West Coast Avengers (WC AVENGERS #2 and AVENGERS ANNUAL #16), the Grandmaster attempted to capture Death for her power. This didn't work, of course. The only thing it DID do was make her angry enough to lock to gate to a peaceful after-life rest!

10) The game obsessed Grandmaster will never break one personal rule!

Being involved in games of chance and strategy, the Grandmaster has one rule that he will never break: Never Cheat or Welch on a Bet.

That's right, the one thing you can depend on with the Grandmaster is that when he makes a deal, he will keep it. In the CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS mini-series, he made a promise than if he won, and he did, he would never use Earth's heroes as pawns ever again. He had also made a bet on the contest that, after winning, Death would return his brother Collector to life. Death didn't back out, but pulled an unknown stipulation: for the Collector to live, someone must die. When it was suggested that he simply use the lives of the heroes, he refused on the grounds that he would be breaking his promise and, thus, break the rules of the wager (since he refused to use them). He went as far as to give his own life (this was before he was banned from Death's domain).

So, obviously, no matter the cost, the Grandmaster will never go back on deal. When the stipulations of a game are set, they are set in stone and written in blood. The game is that serious to him.

Ok, knowing all of this may be of little help when it comes to the MCU. But I believe the Grandmaster is too interesting a character to not use some of the above points for his appearance in Thor: Ragnarok. And being played by Jeff Goldblum? Priceless. Can't wait! #giddy