The 'Thor: Love and Thunder' Post-Credits Scenes Are Marvel's Best in Years
This story contains spoilers for Thor: Love and Thunder.
He’s here! He’s there! He’s every-fucking-where! Roy Kentttt! Roy Kenttttttt!
Sorry, friends. This far removed from Ted Lasso's last season, we erupt in a Roy Kent chant upon mere sight of Brett Goldstein. If you've seen Thor: Love and Thunder, out this weekend, you know that the master of dry humor is the latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The first scene shows Goldstein decked out as Hercules, while the second shows Jane Foster reuniting with the fallen Heimdall. We'll break down Goldstein's hero (or villain?) moment—as well as Idris Elba's return as Heimdall—below. But after a string of forgettable MCU post-credits scenes, it's nice to see Love and Thunder deliver two genuinely memorable moments, with the perfect amount of cheer-worthy cameos and teases that tell us what's in store for the God of Thunder. Let's get to it.
How Many End Credits Scenes Are There?
You know the drill by now. Thor: Love and Thunder features two end credits scenes, no more, no less. The first pops up after the fancy, stylized credits. The second rolls after the credits completely finish.
Oi, It's Hercules!
In Love and Thunder's short, but incredibly sweet first post-credits moment, we glimpse Russell Crowe's Zeus muttering about how superheroes are hotter shit than gods nowadays, and how that pesky Thor ruined everything. At the end of his rant, Zeus tasks his son, Hercules, to find and take out Thor. The camera zips over to Goldstein, in full Olympian gear, responding, "Yes, father!" Aside from an A+ bit of casting on Marvel's end, Love and Thunder seemingly sets up a Clash of the Titans-esque Thor sequel. Instead of a Big Bad aiming to destroy all gods a la Love and Thunder, Thor 5 may simply see the gods battle each other. Hemsworth versus Goldstein? Sign us the hell up.
How We Missed You, Heimdall
In Love and Thunder's final post-credits scene, we see Jane Foster—after dying as a hero in the film's final battle—pass through the gates of Valhalla. (In Norse mythology, Valhalla is where you go if you triumphantly lose your life in battle.) She's welcomed by a familiar friend: Heimdall, who died via Thanos temper tantrum in Avengers: Infinity War. Heimdall thanks Foster for looking after his son, and that's about it. Which is refreshing! A friendly hello from an old face is all a Marvel post-credits scene needs to be.
That said, the MCU does seem to be keen on expanding the potential for life after death for its characters. (Think: Black Panther's Ancestral Plane and Moon Knight's Aaru, The Field of Reeds.) Frankly, it seems to be another plot device, a la the multiverse, to make sure that any big-ticket character can pop up on your TV or theater screen at any point. Death doesn't hit like it used to. Sigh.
One last note on Heimdall. It's funny—we asked Elba last year about the idea of returning to the MCU. "Well, here's the thing," Elba said. "Again, anything can happen in the Marvel universe. Heimdall is a god, and hey, I would always love to bring that character back. He's one of my favorites." We're thinking he probably knew that Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi had something in mind at the time. MCU actors? You got us again.
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