Brett Goldstein as Hercules 

He’s here, he’s there, he’s every-fucking-where – even in Omnipotence City. While Thor: Love and Thunder has plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, the biggest chuckle for my audience came with the revelation of Hercules, the Prince of Power, played by Brett Goldstein, best known as the foul-mouthed footballer Roy Kent on Ted Lasso

The Thor: Love and Thunder mid-credit scene finds Zeus complaining that superheroes get all the praise once heaped upon gods, and thus vows to give them a superhero in the form of his son, the demi-god Hercules. For comic book fans, Hercules’ arrival has been a long time coming. Since the character’s first proper Marvel appearance in 1965’s Journey Into Mystery Annual #1, Hercules has been a rival to Thor. 

Although Herc has had his own ongoing comics (notably the excellent Incredible Hercules series), he works best on team books. Over the years, Hercules has served in the Champions (the team that preceded Kamala Khan and Miles Morales team, with Black Widow and Ghost Rider) and the Avengers. Most recently, Herc joined the Guardians of the Galaxy, after helping the team defeat Zeus. 

While Herc’s appearance certainly thrills comic book fans, it does raise some questions. First of all, there’s the issue of the character’s personality. The Thor of the comics best matches the character seen before Waititi came aboard. Sometimes haughty and certainly good-natured, Thor tends to be noble and regal. Those same comics portray Hercules as an ebullient adventurer, one who boldly bounds into every escapade with a wink and a smile. In other words, the Thor of the movies has the same personality as Hercules of the comics. 

Then there’s the issue of Hercules’ sexuality, which shouldn’t be an issue at all if Marvel’s parent company Disney had any guts. Despite some occasional backpaddling by editorial, Hercules is canonically bisexual, having been in relationships with Mockingbird, Marvel Boy, and more. The MCU has been willing to include some characters that aren’t straight (see Eternals, Loki, and even Love and Thunder), but too often minimizes their romantic aspects. 

Unfortunately, the two seconds of screen time devoted to Hercules don’t give us much indication of how the character will play in the MCU. However, the casting might answer the question of Thor’s personality. On Ted Lasso, Goldstein finds depth and humor in a character known for his stoicism. Should they decide to swap the personalities and give Herc Thor’s comic book personality, Goldstein will be equal to the task of making the party-pooper entertaining. 

Danofgeek