Thor: Love and Thunder's biggest surprise came in the movie's mid-credits scene when Zeus sent his son, Hercules, after the MCU's God of Thunder. Ted Lasso star Brett Goldstein has been cast as the hero (who may be more antagonist than protagonist in this world), but that's all we've seen of him for now.
Marvel Studios' Director of Visual Development Andy Park came up with Hercules' comic-accurate costume, and he's finally shared some of the alternate designs considered for the character's live-action MCU debut.
Last year, we spoke with Andy about his take on Thor's new rival. The concept artist shared his excitement to learn he was working on the character and some insights into how he approached the suit as a fan of Hercules' adventures on the page in the 80s and 90s.
"I got to design that one which was really fun because before I designed it, I had just finished watching [Brett] in Ted Lasso [Laughs]. I love that show and the first time I saw he was this character I said, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s going to play Hercules?’ I went to designing that and, again, growing up in the 80s and 90s with Marvel Comics, he was part of The Avengers."
"It becomes a question every time we do a design, ‘How comic accurate can you be?’ I did a lot of different versions and one got picked. We got to see it in the end credits and that was such a treat to be able to see that and also fun to be in the audience whether it was in the premiere or when I watched it after with a regular audience to see the reaction."
These designs are all largely the same but there are subtle differences which ultimately make Hercules look very different. The final design is arguably the best as it sticks so close to the source material, though we'd argue that any one of these would have done this mighty Avenger justice on screen.
Thor: Love and Thunder's mid-credits scene was presumably meant to set the stage for a Thor 5 pitting the God of Thunder against Hercules, though comments from Disney CEO Bob Iger have somewhat cast doubt on the possibility of us getting a fifth instalment in this or any other Marvel Studios franchise.
You can see Park's designs below along with an epic keyframe he did featuring Thor and Love.
The movie 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 Taika Waititi, the movie stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Russell Crowe, Jaimie Alexander, Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, and Sean Gunn among others.
Thor: Love and Thunder is now streaming on Disney+.