If you haven't seen Thor: Love and Thunder yet, be warned that major spoilers follow from this point on!
In the movie's mid-credits scene, we find out that Zeus (Russell Crowe) is very-much alive and seeking vengeance against the Odinson for stealing his thunderbolt and disrupting his orgy plans. The arrogant Father of the Gods swears to make Thor "fall from the sky" so that mankind will stop looking to "so-called superheroes" to save them and finally learn to fear the Gods again.
Zeus tasks his son, Hercules, with this mission, and it's then we see that Ted Lasso breakout Brett Goldstein has been cast as the Olympian powerhouse.
While speaking to Uproxx, writer-director Taika Waititi revealed that Kevin Feige was responsible for enlisting Goldstein to play Hercules, before adding that he's not sure if the plan is for the character to be utilized in "future Thor movies or something else entirely."
"I don’t know if that’s to do with Thor, or if it’s to do with how that will develop," he continued. "Because, obviously, Hercules, there’s a character from the books as well. And so, yeah, this will be interesting to see because Kevin, he’s obviously the mastermind of all of these threads and how they’ll tie up and how they meet, mix and match. So I’m curious to find out myself."
Goldstein's casting has been met with something of a mixed response from fans, but it's impossible to judge after such a brief introduction. Let's just hope that when Hercules does return to The MCU, he won't be using the same silly accent as his father.
Thor: Love and Thunder finds Thor (Chris Hemsworth) on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced – a quest for inner peace. But his retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who – to Thor’s surprise – inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor.
Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.
Directed by Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, Jojo Rabbit) and produced by Kevin Feige and Brad Winderbaum, Thor: Love and Thunder is now playing in theaters.