How Thor: Love and Thunder Sets Up a Thor 5

Like most projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor: Love and Thunder went to great lengths to set up future installments of the franchise. Whether it's an extended spin-off television show for Disney+ or Thor 5, there were plenty of crumbs left for future storytellers to pick up. Here, we're going to talk about where the film franchise may head next, and we're going full spoilers. Proceed with caution if you've yet to see the movie!

People are raving about the Marvel debut of Hercules, played by Ted Lasso standout Brett Goldstein. Though the character appears in a single shot during the film's mid-credits scene, it's all but guaranteed this is the direction the film franchise will head next. After Zeus (Russell Crowe) was nearly murdered by Odinson (Chris Hemsworth) and the other Asgardians, the Greek god sends his son (Hercules) after the group.

While Hercules is a hero—an even an Avenger at times—in the Marvel source material, it looks like the character's live-action story arc will begin with an antagonistic approach. Because of his heroic background, Hercules likely won't be the primary villain of Thor 5 but rather, a secondary antagonist that eventually flips sides to help Thor and company against a big bad.

Outside of that, there's no telling of where the franchise can head next. Love and Thunder largely adapted the character's most popular comics run, and with Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) in charge of New Asgard, it's unlikely Marvel Studios will adapt Jason Aaron's follow-up King Thor storyline.

Thinking on the angle of the destroyed Necrosword, one option that will be nearly impossible to achieve given rights issues with Sony would be a live-action King in Black, a Venom story at heart. Going by the comic source material, the Necrosword used by Gorr was recently retconned into being the first symbiote ever created by Knull, a character that also happens to be a god.

With the Necrosword destroyed, perhaps Knull will want Thor to pay for his actions, leading to an invasion of Earth or New Asgard. It'd mark a return to more serious storytelling compared to the scripts of Thor: Ragnarok and Love and Thunder, which will likely be a welcome change of pace for many.

Or maybe it's a return to the originality of Thor: Ragnarok, which was an amalgamation of several comic book storylines. Either way, it's all but guaranteed a fifth Thor film will soon be greenlit after Love and Thunder's sizable opening weekend box office.

Taika Waititi, who directed Thor: Ragnarok, returns to direct Thor: Love and Thunder. He also co-wrote the film's screenplay with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson. The film stars Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Chris Pratt, Jaimie Alexander, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, and Vin Diesel.

Thor: Love and Thunder is now in theaters.

What'd you think Thor: Love and Thunder? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!