Thor: Love and Thunder ending explained: your biggest questions answered
The Thor: Love and Thunder ending wrapped up a major storyline, introduced some new characters, and saw Chris Hemsworth's Asgardian save the day. But that's not to say there weren't some major questions remaining when the credits rolled. Namely, who was that? Are they really dead? And does this mean we're getting a sequel?
Now the movie has arrived on Disney Plus, rest assured we'll be taking a big old deep dive into the final moments of Taika Waititi's latest Marvel project. As we try to make sense of the sequel to both Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok (as well Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame), we'll be dissecting some of the biggest plot points – and what these could mean for the future of the MCU.
So whether you've just streamed the movie for the first time, or you're on your fifth rewatch, we've got you covered. However, before we go any further, here's you spoiler warning. We'll be getting into everything that happened in the Thor: Love and Thunder ending – from who dies in Thor: Love and Thunder to the details of the Thor: Love and Thunder post-credits scenes. Make sure you've seen the movie before reading on.
Thor: Love and Thunder ending explained *spoilers*
Thor: Love and Thunder begins with Gorr the God Butcher, Christian Bale’s villain, stumbling through the desert with his dying daughter in his arms. He desperately prays to his God – the Bringer of Light – to save them, but to no avail. After his daughter dies in his arms, he follows a voice and encounters his God at what seems to be a gate to the afterlife. As Gorr tells him how he’s dedicated his life to worshiping him, it soon becomes clear his devotion has been wasted: there’ll be no eternal glory for him to enjoy. The Necrosword lying on the ground calls to the Gorr and he embraces its power, kills the God, and becomes the God Butcher.
Meanwhile, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) has worked off his "sad bod" from Endgame and now goes around the universe kicking ass with the Guardians of the Galaxy. However, he soon parts ways with the group after Lady Sif sends him a distress call. Turns out, Gods are being killed everywhere, and Thor sets out to find out who is killing them – and he knows exactly where a God-killer would head next: New Asgard. He goes back to Earth, where Jane Foster now wields Mjolnir. Jane's been battling Stage 4 cancer and her treatment isn’t working. The astrophysicist realizes Mjolnir has healing qualities and heads to New Asguard, where she discovers she is worthy enough to become the Mighty Thor.
Gorr attacks New Asgard with his army of shadow monsters, but fails to kill Thor and instead steals the Asgardian children and imprisons them in the Shadow Realm. Working with Heimdall's son, Thor figures out Gorr's plan and goes with, Valkyrie, Korg, and Jane to build an army of Gods to take down Gorr. In Omnipotence City, the maniacal Zeus refuses to help, but does reveal Gorr may be heading to the mythical place Eternity. There, he could make a wish and kill all Gods. That still doesn't phase Zeus, and Thor fights the God of Lightning, seemingly kills him, and steals Zeus' Lightning Bolt. Only Korg's head survives the battle.
On the journey, Jane confides in Thor that she is dying of cancer and the pair reconcile. In the Shadow Realm, the color drains from the universe, and Jane soon realizes the whole thing's a trap: Gorr wants them there, as the key to opening Eternity is the Bifrost, which is accessed using Thor's axe Stormbreaker. It's too late, though, and Gorr takes the weapon and Valkyrie and Jane are both seriously hurt in the crossfire.
The Bifrost sends the trio back to New Asguard, where Jane's situation gets worse with Mjolnir draining her remaining energy. They decide Thor needs to take on Gorr, and he heads to Eternity. Thor manages to impart his powers onto the Asgardian children, and they fight the God Butcher and the shadow creatures. However, it's not quite enough, and Jane arrives to save the day. Thor retrieves Stormbreaker, sends the children home using the Bifrost, and they destroy Gorr's source of power the Necrosword. However, the gate to Eternity is fully open, and Gorr goes through...
Thor and Jane follow him through, and rather than fight Gorr, they offer him an alternative: why kill all the Gods, when he could wish for his daughter to return. The God Butcher says the young girl would have no one as he’s dying, but Jane tells him that isn’t true, looking at Thor. Gorr's daughter comes through the gate of Eternity, Gorr dies, Jane turns to stardust, and Thor adopts the girl. The duo head back to New Asguard, where King Valkyrie and Lady Sif are training up the children, Korg's found a boyfriend, Dwayne, and Thor and his adopted daughter fight side by side. Their superhero names? Love and Thunder.
But wait! There are two post-credits scenes to enjoy. The first reveals that Zeus is still alive, and he wants people to fear the Gods again – and Hercules, played by Ted Lasso’s Brett Goldstein, is the man for the job. The second post-credits scene takes us to Valhalla where Jane's greeted into eternal paradise by Idris Elba’s Heimdall.
Is Jane Foster really dead? What happened to The Mighty Thor?
The most heartbreaking storyline in Thor: Love and Thunder is Jane Foster’s illness. Early on in the movie, we learn that the beloved scientist, and Thor’s ex-girlfriend, has been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. She’s in treatment with Darcy Lewis looking after her, but nothing is working. For a little while, it seems that maybe Mjolnir may be her savior, but it becomes clear it’s actually draining her of energy needed to fight the cancer, echoing the storyline in the Mighty Thor comics.
At the end of the movie, Jane makes the decision to embrace becoming the Mighty Thor for one final time. She helps Thor get the Asgardian children home, but as soon as she returns to her human form, she dies in the God of Thunder’s arms. After telling Thor that she loves him, her body disappears into dust, in a similar fashion to Odin’s death back in Thor: Ragnarok. In the post-credits scene, it’s confirmed that she’s dead, when she’s welcomed into Valhalla by Heimdall. Natalie Portman could return in the future for a similar kind of afterlife scene, but it seems likely this is the end for her character in the MCU.
How did Jane get into Valhalla?
Early on in the movie, when Thor is speaking to Sif, he explains the rules about getting into Valhalla. The afterlife of the gods only permits entry to warriors who die in battle. Jane is fatally wounded when she is in her Mighty Thor form battling Gorr at the gate of Eternity. Plus, when she becomes the Mighty Thor, she takes on Asgardian powers, and as an Asgardian, she's granted entry to the afterlife.
How did Jane Foster turn into the Mighty Thor?
As soon as Jane lifts the reassembled Mjolnir, she becomes a superhero known as the Mighty Thor. This comes with Asgardian powers of super strength and the ability to travel the Bifrost. While it’s never made explicitly clear how she manages to make the transition, it seems to be down to a vow Thor made to the hammer make. When he and Jane were still dating, he tells Mjolnir to always protect Jane, which then seemingly becomes sealed into it.
Is Gorr dead? What happened to him?
Thor and the Mighty Thor destroy Gorr’s Necrosword, which is what gave him his God butchering powers. Without it, he reverts back to his dying, human form as it has taken too much of his energy from him. So when Gorr stumbles through the gates of Infinity, he is already close to death. It isn’t long before he succumbs to it.
Why did Gorr change his mind about his wish for Eternity?
When Thor and the gang head to Omnipotence City, Zeus explains Gorr’s plans to reach Eternity and make the wish for all Gods to die. However, when Gorr actually reaches Eternity, he makes a different choice. He instead decides to bring his daughter back from the dead. After the Necrosword – a corrupting force – is destroyed, it seems Gorr is less intent on his mission to kill Gods, and with Thor and Jane showing the power of love, Gorr sees that his daughter could have another life with them.
Who are Love and Thunder? And where are they now?
Thor has a daughter (kind of). Gorr asks Eternity to bring back his daughter to life as Thor becomes her caretaker. In the final scene of the movie, we see the pair living in domestic bliss on a ship. The moment is full of adorable details: Thor is making breakfast while the young girl has drawn a face on Mjolnir. We don’t see where exactly they are but when the door opens, the pair run out into battle somewhere.
We learn that Thor and Gorr’s daughter are called "Love and Thunder". Korg doesn’t make it clear who is who, but Chris Hemsworth seemingly gave this away in an interview ahead of the movie’s release. Speaking to Kevin McCarthy, he shared that his daughter, India Rose Hemsworth, plays the character. "My daughter is there too," he said, "she plays the character of Love."
However, he also revealed that the young Hemsworth may not be returning in the role beyond the movie. Hemsworth added: "It felt like a one-off fun family experience. I don’t want them to now go and become child stars and actors. It was just a special experience for that and they loved it, they had a great time." For more, check out our piece on Thor's children in the comics.
Where are the Guardians of the Galaxy now?
The Guardians of the Galaxy don’t have a huge role in Thor: Love and Thunder, exiting the movie pretty early on. When a number of distress calls come in from places under attack from Gorr, they head in one direction while Thor heads after Sif. We don’t see them again, and it’s never mentioned how they fared in their mission. However, we’ll soon see them back in the upcoming The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special directed by James Gunn, which releases in December on Disney Plus. Then we’ll see them in their third and final movie directed by Gunn: Guardians of the Galaxy 3, which has a release date of May 3, 2023.
Who cameos in Thor: Love and Thunder?
Thor: Love and Thunder is full of great cameos. In New Asgard, we find out that the theater troop from Ragnarok survived – and they have added to their troupe. Matt Damon is back as Loki, Sam Neill as Odin, and Luke Hemsworth as Thor. There’s a new addition in the form of Melissa McCarthy as Hela, and her real-life husband Ben Falcone cameos as the director of the mini-play.
There are few other cameos scattered throughout the movie, including musician Jenny Morris as one of the New Asagardians, and thespian Simon Russell Beale as one of the gods in Omnipotence-city. Hemsworth’s, Waititi’s, Portman’s, and Bale’s children all have roles in the movie as well. Plus, Stellan Skarsgård makes a brief reprise as Erik Selvig, last seen in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but mentioned as being blipped in Endgame. For a more in-depth rundown, check out our guide to all the Thor: Love and Thunder cameos. Plus, we also have a piece on all the cut Thor: Love and Thunder cameos – turns out, a few major actors were removed.
Is there a post-credits scene?
Yes! There are two Thor: Love and Thunder post-credits scenes – you can read our breakdown all about these through that link. The first comes after the stylized credits as we return to Omnipotence City, while the second comes right at the end of the credits sequence.
How did Zeus survive?
Zeus was seemingly killed by his own Lightning Bolt weapon during the fight at Omnipotence City. However, he’s clearly alive and well in the post-credits scene. We see his attendants cleaning his wounds so it seems it was actually just injured, rather than killed. There’s no major explanation about how he survived but it seems that his powers may include healing.
Who is Hercules in the MCU? Who plays him?
The biggest reveal from the post-credits scenes is the introduction of a new superhero in the MCU. Zeus is speaking off-screen to someone as he rants: "It seems to me that being a God used to mean something. Now people just want superheroes, when did we become the joke?" The camera turns around as we get our first glimpse at Hercules, played by Brett Goldstein. (For more, check out our guide to Hercules in Thor: Love and Thunder.)
It’s only a very brief look at him in his resplendent golden armor, but it seems like he could play a big role in Marvel’s future. The scene sets him up as a potential villain for Thor as Zeus tells him to enact revenge on the God of Thunder. In the comics Hercules is based on the god from Greek mythology – and has many of the same powers as him, including superhuman strength, durability, speed, reflexes, stamina, and endurance. We'll have to wait and see how this plays out in Marvel Phase 4 and beyond.
Will there be a Thor 5?
At the end of the credits sequence, it's confirmed that "Thor will return". What we don’t know is how he’ll be back. The final scenes seem to set up plenty more in store for the Asgardian. He’s now a father, as well as having a new enemy (Hercules) after him. This could continue into a fifth Thor movie, or it could evolve into another MCU property.
At the press conference ahead of the film’s release, Marvel boss Kevin Feige teased the superhero’s future. He told press including GamesRadar: "Well, there are these things called comic books that have a lot of stories in them – and that's where all of our stories come from. And the question is, 'Have you told all the great Thor stories from the comics in movies?' The answer is no. There are lots of them." For more, see our guide to Thor 5.
Want to read more on Thor: Love and Thunder? Then check out our guides on when Thor: Love and Thunder takes place on the Marvel timeline, and every Thor: Love and Thunder Easter egg you might have missed.
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