One more warning: spoilers ahead for “Thor: Love & Thunder.”
Marvel movies are renowned for their post-credits scenes. Ranging from important set-ups of future films (like when we met Thanos after 2012’s “The Avengers”) to silly one-off gags (like Baby Groot dancing to the Jackson 5 after 2014’s “Guardians on the Galaxy”), the MCU, which has finally given us a Jewish leading lady in Natalie Portman, has perfected the art of selling their next movie before the current one is even totally over.
After seeing the post-credits scene from “Thor: Love & Thunder,” this Jewish fan is sold.
In the roughly 25-second scene, so much happens. First, the audience learns that Zeus (Russell Crowe), whom we thought Thor had killed earlier in the movie, is still alive. “They will fear us again… when Thor Odinson falls from the sky,” Zeus asserts, setting up conflict for a potential fifth Thor movie.
But no, Zeus won’t be the one seeking revenge. He turns to someone off-screen and asks, “Do you understand me, Hercules?”
This is in-and-of-itself big news — Hercules is often a rival of Thor’s in the Marvel comics, but hadn’t made it into the movies up until this point. But Marvel just had to make this plot point that much bigger with their casting choice…
JEWISH ACTOR BRETT GOLDSTEIN.
I’ll let you have a second.
Yes, that’s correct, our Muppet-loving, Roy Kent-playing Brett Goldstein is officially in the MCU!! AND, as if this news couldn’t get any better, if we get another Thor film, there’s a chance Brett would be working with “Thor: Love and Thunder” director Taika Waititi!!!
While the post-credits scene ends with a shot of Hercules standing to answer Zeus, replying that he will go after Thor, there’s not much else we can glean about the character. Even so, the “Ted Lasso” star looks very attractive in his gold outfit, and I personally cannot wait to see what Brett gets to do as Hercules in future Marvel movies.
He already has experience playing a character that is here, there and every-fucking-where. Let’s hope the same is true of his Hercules.
