Thor: Love and Thunder is now in theaters worldwide, taking us into the fourth solo adventure of the Asgardian Avenger and taking its place as the 29th film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It sees director Taika Waititi, who previously helmed 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok, bringing his comedic touch to another superhero outing (both of his post-credits scenes).
The film catches up with Thor Odinson (Chris Hemsworth) after the events of Avengers: Endgame, where he decides to join the cosmic Guardians of the Galaxy. He also reunites with former flame Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who has been empowered by her old hammer Mjolnir and transformed into the Mighty Thor, as they face the fearsome threat of Gor the Butcher God (Christian Bale).
Once you’ve wrapped your head around the end of the film and his other delightful cameo, it’s time to swing your enchanted hammer and jump into SPOILERS for the mid-credits and post-credits scenes.
A vengeful god
In the mid-credits scene, Zeus (Russell Crowe) is revealed to have survived after Thor blasted the Greek god’s own lightning bolt into his chest. As he tends to him on his throne, Zeus expresses his anger that humans now worship superheroes instead of gods.
“They will fear us again when they see Thor Odinson fall from the sky,” he says bitterly. “Do you understand me Hercules? Do you understand me my son?”
Brett Goldstein, who appears as Hercules in the Thor: Love and Thunder mid-credits scene, shows off his near-godlike power by holding up the Emmy Award he won for Ted Lasso in 2021.
Rich Fury/Getty Images
We’re introduced to the MCU’s Hercules (Brett Goldstein, Ted Lasso’s lovable grumpy Roy Kent).
“Yeah, Dad,” he growls.
What does it mean?
Marvel’s Hercules was introduced in the comics as Thor’s rival in the 1960s, but later became his ally and joined the Avengers. He has appeared regularly in the decades since his debut, occasionally starring in his own series. Herc is a bit of a braggart, but a reliable friend to the other characters.
Hercules has appeared in numerous comic series since the 1960s, but usually appears as a supporting character.
Marvel Studios
The character was first seen as an impostor of the time-traveling villain Immortus, but this version was later revealed to be an impostor – mostly because it didn’t really match his subsequent characterization, and because “impostor” is a classic comic book explanation for such discrepancies.
Immortus partially inspired Loki’s villain The One Who Remains, which was an alternate reality version of future MCU villain Kang. Since the movies and shows regularly riff on classic comic stories, it’s possible that Hercules will team up with Kang in his mission to defeat Thor.
Regardless, it’s likely that Hercules and Thor will become allies at some point in the future – Goldstein is just too popular and attractive to stay bad.
He is also the second actor since Ted Lasso to recently make a cameo in an MCU post-credits scene. Cristo Fernandez, best known for his role as Danny “Football is Life” Rojas on the Apple TV Plus series, appeared in an extra scene for Spider-Man: No Way Home last December.
Life after death
As Thor struggled to stop Gor from reaching the all-powerful Eternity and wishing all the gods were destroyed, Jane left her cancer treatment to pick up Mjolnir one last time and came to the rescue. The heroic duo managed to convince Gore to abandon her genocidal campaign, but she lost her battle with the disease shortly after.
Heimdall is back in Love and Thunder after the credits look to the Asgardian afterlife.
Marvel Studios
The post-credits scene reunites us with Jane after her death as she passes through a portal and ends up in a beautiful mountain setting. She is met by Heimdall (Idris Elba), the all-seeing guardian of the Bifrost Bridge in Asgard, who was killed by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War.
“You are most welcome here in the land of the gods,” he says warmly. “Welcome to Valhalla.”
What does it mean?
Valhalla, the Asgardian paradise inspired by Norse mythology, was mentioned earlier in the film. When Thor encounters an injured Lady Sif (Jamie Alexander) after her encounter with Gor, she urges him to let her die so she can go to Valhalla. Thor reminds her that she will only go there if she dies in battle, so she agrees to go to New Asgard and be patched up.
When Jane dies in Thor’s (huge) arms after the final battle with Gor, she disintegrates into stardust like Odin (Anthony Hopkins) in Thor: Ragnarok, implying that she was taken in as an Asgardian despite being born a human.
This could mean that Jane will be allowed to rest among the other fallen gods in the afterlife and we won’t see her again (especially since bringing Portman, Elba and Hopkins back would be expensive). However, MCU post-credits scenes usually serve to set up future storylines, and Jane’s comic counterpart became Valkyrie after her time as the Mighty Thor ended.
Jane’s comic superhero career led her to become Valkyrie.
Marvel Comics
In the MCU, this group of elite female warriors was slaughtered in battle with the death goddess Hela. King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) is the sole survivor. In the comics and Norse mythology, the Valkyries lead those who fall in battle in Valhalla, so their MCU counterparts may have continued to serve a similar purpose—Jane may eventually join their ranks.
Valhalla is also probably just a dimension in the MCU and it might be possible to travel to and from it since the multiverse was broken in the Loki season finale. So Jane and Thor could meet again.
Could Loki be in Valhalla?
The original MCU Loki is dead after being killed by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War (the one we followed in the Disney Plus series was an alternate timeline). Since OG Loki was killed in battle, he should have been rewarded with a blissful eternity in Valhalla.
It’s also possible that the original version of the character isn’t dead, as the older classic Loki — a variant from yet another timeline — seen in the Disney Plus series revealed that he tricked Thanos with a super-realistic projection. He then lives in solitude on a distant planet for “a long, long time.”
Classic Loki’s timeline deviated from the main one when he left the distant world to see Thor. This suggests that the regular version of the character remained in isolation, so he may not have made it to Valhalla after all.
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