Warning: Spoilers ahead from Thor Love and Thunder. Who is Hercules?
If you haven’t had the opportunity to check out Thor Love and Thunder yet, we’ll skip a full review here (there are plenty in the wild already) and jump straight to it – if you loved Ragnarök, you’ll enjoy Love and Thunder. Taika Waititi delivers another solid entry – one desperately needed after Raimi’s Multiverse of Madness (my opinion).
But fans this week may be talking more about what is likely to be Thor’s next nemesis (or will he be?), Hercules, who (spoilers) will look to avenge the attack on his completely inappropriate father, Zeus, after Thor appears to dispatch him with ease and snatches his lighting bolt to defeat the God Butcher.
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Hercules makes his MCU debut in Thor Love and Thunder – did you know he was a Marvel character?
If you didn’t know Hercules was a comic book character, that’s ok, he’s certainly not an A-lister. Though, his powers are legendary – he once even drug the island of Manhattan across the Bay.
Paralleled in strength by the Hulk, Hercules made his Marvel debut in 1964 in The Avengers #10 and later became a regular in The Mighty Thor (appropriate he’d appear in this film given Jane’s chosen alter-ego).
Hercules’ original purpose in the comics actually was to battle Thor. After being pulled from the pages of history by Immortus, Hercules even beats Thor initially after the God of Thunder was weakened by Odin for loving Jane Foster (again, Taika Waititi really did a great job building in quite a bit of comic lore into Love and Thunder).
Ultimately, however, Hercules becomes a force for good after Thor rescues him despite the attack, and is even an ongoing sidekick of sorts.
In most appearances in the comics, Hercules has a specific role to play, appearing with the Fantastic Four, helping the Avengers battle Surtur in New York, and even teaming up to defeat the villain Kang the Conqueror (see where this could be going?).
Most recently, Hercules was captured and imprisoned by his own family only to be rescued by the Guardians of the Galaxy (a move that cost Star-Lord his life).
With so much history with all the characters still present in Phase 4, is Hercules’ appearance a bit of foreshadowing by Waititi?
Hercules is awakened to avenge Zeus, but should he? And could he be part of the next Avengers team?
Zeus was pretty despicable in Thor Love and Thunder. When Thor tried to recruit the God of Lightning he’s taunted, publicly humiliated, and attacked by Zeus’ guards.
However, Thor makes light work of the Greek God and snatches his lightning bolt for Valkyrie. We’re led to believe Zeus is finished but later find out he’s all better, lazy as ever, and thirsty for revenge (at Hercules’ hands that is).
Is this a story that will play out in Thor 5? Or could we see Hercules appear in Guardians of the Galaxy 3? Remember, Star-Lord died to save him in the comics. Given GOTG 3 will be the last entry in the series, could this be how Star-Lord’s narrative wraps up (if Hercules is intended to be a future Avenger)?
Hercules could very well be under some mystical influence by Zeus (which would speak to his origins in the comics and his most recent appearance, in which the family who he wanted to help were actually against him). After all, Love and Thunder’s Zeus appears to have the gods in his realm under a creepy orgy spell – every one of them, including the Korgan god, seemed oblivious to the clearly visible threat that Gorr posed to their existence.
It will be interesting to see how it all plays out, but make no mistake, Hercules’ lightning strike of a cameo was more than a nod to Zeus.
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