Thor: Love and Thunder’s two after-credits scenes explained

Thor’s latest adventure sends him on a journey of maturity and self-discovery. Thor reunites with his old love, finds new friends and faces new challenges. Of course, things don’t end with the credits; just like most Marvel movies, Thor: Love and ThunderIt also has a hidden secret in its credits.

Love and ThunderThere are two credit scenes. The first happens midway through the credits, with the second one happening after they’ve all rolled. The first seems like the most important tease, but the second’s still worth sticking around for.

[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for Thor: Love and Thunder.]

Thor: Love and ThunderAs you can see, the movie’s antagonist Gorr The God Butcher is involved in the deaths of quite a number gods. However, it’s Thor’s dealings with Zeus that get him in the most hot water by the time the credits roll. We see Zeus (who survived a lightning strike to his chest), angrily telling Hercules not to kill Thor in the post credit scene. In this brief scene, Hercules is played by Brett Goldstein — who is best known for his role as the foul-mouthed Roy Kent on Ted Lasso.

While this is the first time Hercules has shown up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he’s a familiar face in Marvel’s Thor stories and the wider universe of Marvel Comics. Hercules, originally introduced as a competing godly warrior to Thor in the 1960s, became a regular character and rose up the ranks of the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, along with a handful of solo series. He’s also — accurate to the social mores of the ancient Greeks — among the ranks of Marvel’s queer characters, and is currently dating the superhero (and ex-boyfriend of Kate Bishop) Marvel Boy.

Image: Al Ewing, Marcio Takara/Marvel Comics

After-credits scene Love and Thunder wraps up Jane Foster’s story by showing her at the gates of Valhalla. When she gets there, she’s confused but Heimdall welcomes her, even though he seems to be relegated as a doorman in the afterlife. Now, how exactly Jane made it to Valhalla after not dying in battle but dying after it, even though we’re told that doesn’t count, is anyone’s guess.

Jane also went to Valhalla in the comics, after she threw Mjolnir into the center of the sun in order to defeat one of Asgard’s greatest enemies and, without its godly power, succumbed to the ravages of cancer. But before she could cross its great gates, the All-Father was moved by her sacrifice to combine his own Odin-force with Thor’s lightning to bring Jane back to life. Her cancer went away, and she returned to chemotherapy. Jane was able to ride the wind with the Mighty Thor in the War of the Realms for one more time and then become the Valkyrie.

Now, in the world of the MCU, the machinations of actor schedules and salaries have a far greater hold on whether characters come back from the dead, but suffice it to say: Just because Jane’s in Valhalla now doesn’t mean we’ll never see her again.