Spoilers for Thor: Love and Thunder Below!
There have been a lot of conflicting opinions about Thor: Love and Thunder since its release a couple of weeks ago, but one thing that everyone can agree on is that it looks certain that Chris Hemsworth will be back to play the God of Thunder again. Thanks to the mid-credits scene, it also looks like we know that at least part of his return will see him going up against Hercules, played by Brett Goldstein. Recently the actor spoke for the first time about his appearance in the movie and what he knows about his MCU future.
Thor: Love and Thunder was always known to feature Russell Crowe in the role of Zeus, and despite seeming to meet an early end at the hands of Thor, the Greek God’s fate was revealed in the mid-credit scene when a wounded and angry Zeus commanded Hercules to take revenge on Thor. In a blink and you miss it moment, just like many recent post-credit scenes from Marvel, the new addition to the MCU was revealed in all his glory, but according to Goldstein, he has no idea what any of it means for a potential future of the character. He told Variety:
“I truly, honestly — this isn’t me lying or being coy — I know nothing. All I know is what I did that day and that’s it. That could be it. It was a fun three seconds.”
Hercules Will Return By Marvel’s Own Post-Credit Reveal Rule ... Eventually.
Although Goldstein claims to know nothing about his possible return to the role of Hercules in future, the general rule of Marvel Studios’ post-credit scenes is that they don’t set up new characters that are never seen again. From way back in the early phases, when everything was much simpler and no one had huge expectations, the post-credit scenes were used to tease the then-upcoming appearances of Thor, Thanos and Adam Warlock among others. While some have taken longer to eventually appear than others, with Warlock, for example, having been teased in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 several years ago and will make his first appearance in next year’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, there is no telling when Hercules will make his return, but it seems almost guaranteed to happen at some point.
According to reports, Hercules has been one of the characters that have been in contention to join the MCU for a number of years, and additionally, the casting of Goldstein, who is best known for appearing in Apple TV’s Ted Lasso, was Kevin Feige’s idea. Once again, it seems unlikely that all of this would be done for just a few seconds on screen without there being a plan in place somewhere.
Whether or not the future of Thor and Hercules are one of the reveals Feige is planning on making soon, we can only wait and find out. With San Diego Comic-Con this weekend, and Disney’s D23 Expo coming in September, some of Marvel’s secrets are getting very close to being revealed.