Marvel Stop Casting People In MCU Post-Credits Challenge

Warning: Contains Thor: Love & Thunder spoilers!

Brett Goldstein appears as Hercules in Thor: Love and Thunder's cast sees multiple new characters the MCU, including Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) and Zeus (Russell Crowe), but saves one of the biggest for after the credits have started to roll with the arrival of Goldstein’s Hercules. The iconic God is also one of the most powerful characters in Marvel Comics, and now brings that power level to the MCU too as Zeus seeks retribution on Thor.

Introducing Hercules in Thor: Love and Thunder’s end credits scene isn’t too much of a surprise, since it very much fits with Marvel’s M.O. Ever since Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) stepped out of the shadows in MCU’s after credits scenes have been used to tease future movies and characters, but it’s become perhaps even bigger in Phase 4’s movies. That’s not only been the case of the usual teases for the future and likely sequels, but bringing new actors to the MCU as well.

Phase 4 is very much about expanding the MCU after Avengers: Endgame, with legacy and replacement heroes being set up and the multiverse being explored. Alongside that are some big actors being cast in Marvel’s post-credits scenes, which so far has included Harry Styles as Eros in Goldstein as Hercules in Thor: Love and Thunder may just be the most surprising of the bunch and a highlight of how it’s becoming a problem for the MCU.

Why Thor: Love & Thunder Revealed Hercules In The Post-Credits Scene

Brett Goldstein Roy Kent Ted Lasso and Thor in Love and Thunder

Hercules had previously been rumoured for an appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder, given his status as one major part of the comics not only likely to be introduced to the MCU eventually anyway, but with strong ties to Thor himself. As the marketing kicked into gear with a clear focus on the gods, not least the reveal of Zeus, then it seemed a little less like Hercules was going to be in the movie proper given his absence from any trailers. So, Hercules in Thor: Love and Thunder’s end credits scene is designed to tease the future, setting up Zeus’ revenge and, presumably, a massive fight between Thor and Hercules. To that end, Hercules in Love and Thunder’s credits fits with what Marvel has always done.

Still, there’s a reasonable question of whether Hercules could’ve been introduced at an earlier point. There’s plenty of time in the movie given over to Zeus and other Gods, which could realistically have included a scene or two of Hercules as well before bringing him back in the credits scene. Alternatively, Marvel could have waited until Thor 5 to reveal Hercules, announcing Goldstein’s casting in advance in a more standard way, and having Love and Thunder’s stinger focus on Zeus’ plan for revenge. Either way, there’s still the same level of set up - whether with his son as an established character, allowing for discussion of Hercules fighting Thor in much the same way, or a more concealed tease that gives room for greater speculation on exactly what it means (which feels a little more like how Marvel’s post-credits scenes worked before Phase 4).

With that, then Thor: Love and Thunder revealing Hercules in the after credits sequence is largely done to gift audiences a sense of shock to come away from the movie with. It’s arguable there wasn’t room in the movie or he would have been too distracting, but saving him for the stinger only guarantees he’ll be a talking point from the time of Love and Thunder hitting theaters until Thor 5’s release.

Credits scenes are often among the last pieces of a movie that are filmed as well, which allows for greater flexibility over what’s in them: it’s possible when Thor: Love and Thunder finished shooting, Goldstein as Hercules wasn’t part of the movie, and instead that came about in post-production. That would certainly fit with the scene, which is Hercules on his own, and show that these projects and are malleable (with returning characters such as Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster and Peter Dinklage’s Eitri ending up on the cutting room floor) and the same is true for the future teases, with Thor 5 presumably a few years away.

Post-Credits Casting Reveals Continue Marvel's Worst Obsession

Clea and Doctor Strange with Third Eye in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Even if it can be explained, Hercules in Phase 4's movies highlight that works better in theory than execution. It’s not that any of these actors are bad or undeserving of the roles - quite the opposite, in fact - but Marvel’s obsession with casting big names for credits scenes is increasingly weird in a “wait, who’s going to be next?!” way that takes a meta discussion of the movies and makes it an inherent part of the process.

This may all sound like it’s just what Marvel does, but the MCU casting characters in post-credits scenes isn’t that common, or wasn’t before Phase 4. Jackson’s Fury aside, the only other huge recurring characters were Thor: The Dark World (one of the MCU's lesser movies), and J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson in Spider-Man: Far From Home (an ittedly genius stroke of fan service, though one the MCU has done little else with).

In contrast, Phase 4’s credits scenes not only appear driven by the MCU eating itself in a meta way, but also don’t deliver the same satisfaction for two differing reasons. Many of Marvel’s post-credits scenes had a relatively quick payoff, and there was a clear sense of what it was building towards. The latter does not fully exist in Phase 4, with Kang the Conqueror, the character expected to be the main villain having only appeared as a variant in one TV show so far, and similarly the former, because of the MCU’s scale, means the castings of Styles, Theron, Goldstein, and whoever else comes next, won’t be revisited for quite same time.

Playing the long game can work - again, it’s key to the MCU’s success - but only when the short game is also good. The post-credits scenes in Phases 1-3 vary in quality, but it’s rare exceptions - such as Ant-Man and the Wasp - where they’re more memorable or important than the movie. When the quality is there, the teases not only feel earned, but additional. They are supposed to be a bonus and yet, as Marvel expands into TV and seems to be in a cycle of never ending, unrelenting content production, it increasingly appears to be the point.

Especially Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings too - but the names only exasperate it. Marvel needs to return to a focus on telling good stories first and foremost, and stop casting people in MCU post-credits scenes.

Next: Which Thor Will Return After Love & Thunder?

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