Warning: this story contains spoilers for Thor: Love and Thunder. Joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe can be a Herculean task. For Brett Goldstein, who cameos as Hercules in a mid-credits scene ending Thor: Love and Thunder, that meant seeking the advice of his Ted Lesso co-star Hannah Waddingham. In an interview with Variety, Waddingham revealed Goldstein asked for guidance before signing on to play the demigod son of the Olympian Zeus (Russell Crowe) — seemingly setting up a clash of the titans between Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Goldstein’s Hercules in Thor 5.
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“He said to me, ‘I’ve been offered this thing and was wondering if I should take it?’” Waddingham said. “I went, ‘Are you mental? Are you having a little bit of a moment?’ He was like, ‘Why?’ I went, ‘Are you seriously thinking you might not play Hercules for like three seconds?’”
Unbeknownst to Waddingham, the Roy Kent actor secretly accepted the role of the incredible Hercules, Thor’s sometimes rival from the Marvel comic books. Waddingham recalled, “I was like, ‘You cheeky bastard!’”
Goldstein told Variety he doesn’t know what the scene between Zeus and Hercules might be teasing, whether it signals Thor vs. Hercules in a Love and Thunder sequel or showing up elsewhere in the MCU.
“I truly, honestly — this isn’t me lying or being coy — I know nothing,” Goldstein said. “All I know is what I did that day and that’s it. That could be it. It was a fun three seconds.”
In a separate interview, director Taika Waititi revealed Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige handpicked Goldstein to portray the live-action version of Marvel’s mighty defender and scion of Olympus.
“Kevin really wanted him to do it, and yeah, Brett’s amazing. He’s great,” Waititi told Uproxx. “And I don’t know if that’s to do with Thor, or if it’s to do with how that will develop. Because, obviously, Hercules, there’s a character from the books as well. And so, yeah, this will be interesting to see because Kevin, he’s obviously the mastermind of all of these threads and how they’ll tie up and how they meet, mix and match. So I’m curious to find out myself.”
Starring Chris Hemsworth as Thor Odinson, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Taika Waititi as Korg, Russell Crowe as Zeus, Jaimie Alexander as Sif, and Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff, Sean Gunn, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper as the Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder is now playing in theaters.
