Thor: Love and Thunder's biggest surprise came in the movie's mid-credits scene when Zeus sent his son, Hercules, to take on the MCU's God of Thunder. Ted Lasso star Brett Goldstein has been cast as the hero (who may be more antagonist than protagonist), but he hasn't been seen since.
That's par for the course with the Multiverse Saga's post-credits scene debuts—Starfox, Blade, Clea, and Jake Lockley are also M.I.A.—but we may have some good news for you today.
Following the news that Thor 5 is potentially moving forward without filmmaker Taika Waititi, @DanielRichtman is reporting that Marvel Studios is developing a solo Hercules project, with Goldstein set to reprise the role.
The Hercules character has become a tough sell at the box office, and we're not sure even placing "Marvel Studios" before the title would help. A team-up project with Thor would increase interest, but if the plan is for them to clash in Thor 5, then the God of Thunder's next movie might be what lays the groundwork for this spin-off.
A Disney+ series or Special Presentation seems a safer bet than a theatrical release. We'll see how things pan out as Marvel Studios has already confirmed it's developing more movies and TV shows than it will ultimately produce.
According to Goldstein, he heard from Marvel Studios "literally out of the blue one night." The actor continued, "They turn around, and they reveal, 'It’s Hercules; it’s you.' And I went, 'What?' Just like, 'Are you serious? Are you [frick]ing with me? Is this a wind-up?' So yeah, it was as surprising to me as I think it has been to other people."
"When I spoke to Taika, I said, 'You know I’m basically like a skinny comedian?' I said, 'When is this filming?' It was like in two weeks, and I was like, 'I mean, I’ll do my best, but two weeks feels...' I said, 'He doesn’t have to be as big as Thor, does he?' And look, on the day, I mean, I’m doing 400 push-ups that day. I was fit to explode. I did the best I could on that day."
Goldstein added, "I truly, honestly — this isn’t me lying or being coy — I know nothing [of the future]. All I know is what I did that day and that’s it. That could be it. It was a fun three seconds."
We're not expecting Hercules to factor into Avengers: Doomsday, though it's always possible we'll see his cash with Thor briefly play out there before they're forced to team up and do battle with Doctor Doom.
Would you be on board with a Hercules solo project? Let us know in the comments section.