Thor: Love and Thunder Star Idris Elba Breaks Silence on His Surprising Return

Much to the surprise of fans everywhere, Idris Elba’s Heimdall made a return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe after dying at the hand of Thanos at the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War. Most believed that Infinity War would mark Elba’s final appearance in the MCU, aside from a flashback, but that notion was proven wrong last month with the debut of Thor: Love and Thunder. While Elba wasn’t announced as part of the cast ahead of the film’s release, he showed up in one of the post-credits scenes and set up the possibility for more appearances in the future.

One of the Love and Thunder post-credits scenes showed a character (who we won’t name right now) arrive at the gates of Valhalla, the afterlife for Asgardian warriors that died in battle. The character was welcomed by Heimdall, confirming that he still exists within the current universe. Elba recently spoke to Collider and addressed his MCU return for the first time.

“Pretty much his whole sort of like arsenal of gifts have been tapped into one way or another,” Elba told Collider. “He’s all-seeing, you know. But he’s quite a warrior. We’ve seen him as a warrior as well, and he has an immortality around him and that would be something that we haven’t really explored so that I think may be interesting. Hey, listen, you know, the Marvel world is ever-expanding. You just never know.”

Heimdall was one of many supporting characters that found their way into Thor: Love and Thunder. Screenwriter Jennifer Kaytin Robinson talked with The Hollywood Reporter about Taika Waititi’s efforts to balance all of the characters.

“All of it is so in the ethos in the Taika Waititi school of screenwriting and really wanting it to feel inclusive across the board and for every character to be able to shine and subvert it in unexpected ways,” the writer explained. “There are moments where Val and Jane look at Thor, especially when he blasts out of the town hall and walks back in. ‘What are you doing?’ And later, for Jane to have those moments. It’s about giving each character a space to shine comedically without making that character the butt of the joke. That is what Taika does so well. Being able to create a space where everyone feels like they can laugh at each other, but it’s never malicious. It’s never meanspirited.”

Thor: Love and Thunder is currently playing in theaters.