Thor: Love and Thunder has landed in Italian cinemas, and as usual there is no shortage of scenes after the credits (or during the same).
Let’s see what it is, but of course there will be spoilers… doh!
The scene during the credits
Let’s start with the mid-credits scene , located at the end of the graphic titles, but before the textual reel.
We are back in Omnipotence City , where the greatest deities of the universe are found. Zeus ( Russell Crowe ) has a hole in his armor at chest height, and he has certainly seen better days, but he is still alive. Assisted by the maids, he gives a speech full of resentment against mortals, guilty of worshiping superheroes instead of gods. It’s an interesting detail, as superhero stories have often been talked about as a kind of contemporary mythology, and superheroes themselves as today’s version of the ancient gods and demigods. Anyway, Zeus wants to make Thor pay for it , and in the last shot we discover that his words are addressed to his son Hercules .: armed with a club, the wiry warrior accepts the mission assigned to him by his father, and is ready to hunt down the Norse hero.
Hercules then makes his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe , played by the British Brett Goldstein : you may know him above all for Ted Lasso , where he plays Roy Kent (and is also the screenwriter and executive producer of the series). In the comics, Hercules has been a rival to both Thor and the Hulk , but he’s also part of the Avengers and fights for good. If there is ever a fifth Thor movie , we can imagine that the Greek demigod will transform from an enemy to an ally of the Thunder God over the course of history. And who knows, maybe sooner or later he will join the Avengers.
The scene after the credits
As usual, the second scene is found at the end of the credits, after the text reel.
In front of an idyllic setting, with two arches that act as portals, Jane Foster ( Natalie Portman ) appears in Asgardian clothes. To welcome her she finds Heimdall ( Idris Elba ), who welcomes her to Valhalla. Behind the old guardian of the Bifrǫst, killed by Thanos at the beginning of Infinity War , stands a mountainous landscape with some Asgardian buildings. Having died in battle while she wielded Mjolnir – or rather, died following the battle, which exhausted her last vital forces already sapped by cancer – Jane has earned the right to enter the paradise of Asgardian warriors.
Compared to the first, this scene seems to have a closing function, rather than acting as a bridge for the following films. Of course , in the Marvel universe , everything is possible, so it cannot be ruled out that Kevin Feige and company will find a way to get Jane and Mighty Thor back , but it’s still too early to speculate. We’ll see.
The official synopsis
The film sees Thor (Chris Hemsworth) on a journey unlike any other he has ever faced: a search for inner peace. But his retirement is interrupted by an intergalactic killer named Gorr the Slaughterer of Gods (Christian Bale), who wants the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlisted the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and his ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who – to Thor’s surprise – inexplicably wields his magic hammer. Mjolnir, as Mighty Thor. Together, they embark on a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery behind the Vengeance of the Slaughterer of Gods, and stop him before it’s too late.
Direction and screenplay
The direction is handled by Taika Waititi , a brilliant New Zealand filmmaker who has already directed Thor: Ragnarok . The screenplay was co-written by him with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson .
The cast
The cast includes Chris Hemsworth ( Thor ), Tessa Thompson ( Valkyrie ), Jaimie Alexander ( Lady Sif ), Taika Waititi himself ( Korg ), Christian Bale ( Gorr, the Slaughterer of Gods ) and Natalie Portman ( Jane Foster ), who he will find worthy to raise Mjolnir and become Mighty Thor . There are also Star-Lords ( Chris Pratt ) and the other Guardians of the Galaxy . Russell Crowe isZeus .