Love and Thunder: Credits Scene

WARNING! Spoilers ahead “Thor: Love and Thunder”

Marvel occasionally uses their mid- or post-credits jokers to make fun at the audience. Most often, however, they use them in order to create a little more of the future MCU. This is true for both the MCU and the X-rays. “Thor: Love and Thunder” credits scenes — but the second one may have just opened up a new realm entirely.

The bad news is, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) didn’t survive the film. As it turns out, in the time since we’ve seen her in “Thor: The Dark World,”It was very fast that she developed cancer. Though Mjolnir initially seems to help her keep the disease at bay — and turns her into the badass Mighty Thor — eventually, we learn that the magic hammer was actually draining the energy she had left in her body and robbing her of the ability to fight off the cancer.

She is aware of this and uses Mjolnir to save Thor (Chris Hemsworth), in the Shadow Realm. This allows her to defeat Gorr, the God Butcher (Christian Bale), while also sacrificing herself. She dies in Thor’s arms in Eternity, and disappears in gold shimmers, similar to Odin’s death in “Thor: Ragnarok.”

The good news is, unlike Odin, we see that Jane’s body is reconstituted after death. In the post-credits scene, she arrives in Valhalla where she’s greeted by none other than Heimdall (Idris Elba), who was killed by Thanos back in “Avengers: Infinity War.”The movie ends after a brief, sweet moment between the two of them.

And with that, we can’t help but think that two beloved MCU characters have been given an open-ended ticket back into the MCU, should they ever want to use it.

This is the first time we’ve literally seen an afterlife of any sort on screen. We weren’t shown Tony Stark walking through the non-viking pearly gates, or Pietro or Gamora, or any other MCU deaths. Loki, the only possible candidate to end up in Valhalla is unlikely. Loki, the time travel replica, is still very much with you.

We are reminded that Jane and Heimdall exist. Somewhere, there’s a clear implication that both could return for future MCU installments.

This could be scenes that take place in Valhalla, where the two of them watch over Thor and attempt to help him from higher up. It could be a Buddy Guardian Angel-type thing where Heimdall or Jane tell embarrassing stories about Thor, their time with him and maybe even joke about his battle antics. I think they could be the MCU version the Statler and Waldorf muppets.

But given this stage of Marvel, it’s possible that Valhalla is the latest expansion of the multiverse, and is actually an entirely separate — entirely Accessible — realm.

There is comic precedent for people returning from Valhalla — Thor himself being one of them. Thor died on Earth-1610 in the now-discontinued Ultimates Universe. He was then sent to Valhalla. Hela ruled the afterlife in that version. They made a deal. Hela would allow Thor to have a child with Hela if he did. It was not an easy decision, but Thor made it.

This is the problem: Thor had to die in order to return to Earth. Unlucky for him, Barbara Noriss was his love interest during that race. When she died, Thor returned to Earth, and Barbara became Valhalla’s Valkyrie.

Now, obviously, neither Jane nor Heimdall are the type to ask for another’s life to save themselves, and Hela is pretty definitely gone. So a storyline like “Ultimate New Ultimates #1,”Although it is possible, it is not likely. Still, there’s at least one option for returning them to the land of the living.

That said, there’s also a means for Thor simply communicating with Jane and Heimdall in the comics as well. Later in the “Ultimates”Run, for he was Asgard’s only survivor. Thor, however, became Valhalla. That gave him the ability to communicate with Valhalla residents.

But as the MCU has shown time and again, there’s no rule that it has to adhere to the comics. Kevin Feige could create a new route for Thor to visit Valhalla to see/possibly save his people if he so desired. It doesn’t matter what the point is. “Thor: Love and Thunder” showed fans that Valhalla is a place that exists somewhere — we just don’t know where. There are many possibilities.

Of course, at the end of the day, the post-credits scene could’ve simply been a nice bookend for Natalie Portman’s time in the MCU, making it clear that she died a hero (the requirement for making it to Valhalla). Being greeted by Heimdall could’ve just been a way of getting Idris Elba in there one more time, and creating a sweet moment between two of the most important people that were in Thor’s life. It would be perfectly fine.

But we can’t help but note that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has now confirmed the existence of at least one actual afterlife. If there’s one, surely there have to be others, right? It would be quite a nihilistic twist for it to turn out the only people who get to go to heaven are literal-god superheroes — particularly considering how a revelation like that is the reason for everything that happens in “Thor: Love and Thunder”In the first place.

Which makes us think of a couple of other Marvel heroes, whose deaths didn’t result in quite the same level of closure. Maybe they’re still be out there, waiting for a camera to glance in the direction of whatever cloud they’re currently living on.

Perhaps that cloud is floating beneath the debris of a magical mountain temple.

The possibility of having afterlives that are accessible to the public is an interesting opportunity considering that the Soul Plane was never a reality.

What we’re saying is, it’s just nice to know that Jane and Heimdall are okay and got the ending they deserved. Marvel, Wanda! Thank you