What That Second Thor: Love And Thunder Credit Scene Means For The MCU

"Thor: Love and Thunder" is in theaters now, and if you haven't seen it yet, you're about to be spoiled for the after-credits scene. That's your warning. Now, put on some Guns N' Roses, and let's dig in, shall we?

At the end of the film, Natalie Portman's Jane Foster, aka Doctor Foster, aka The Mighty Thor (and definitely not Lady Thor) uses Mjolnir to help save the world, and after telling Thor (Chris Hemsworth) to keep his heart open, dies. RIP to both Mighty Thor and her arms.

Jane is gone, Thor has adopted Gorr's daughter, who now fights the forces of darkness with him, Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and Sif (Jaimie Alexander) are teaching the people of New Asgard self-defense, and Korg (Taika Waititi) has found love with Dwayne. We know from the mid-credits scene that Zeus (Russell Crowe) is about to send his son Hercules (Brett Goldstein) after Thor, setting up a future conflict for the Norse god.

However, in the after-credits scene, Jane walks through a gate, and waiting for her is none other than the late Heimdall (Idris Elba). He says, "I see you're dead now." He tells here she's very welcome in the land of the gods, and thanks her for looking after his son. Then he says, "Welcome to Valhalla." I guess Jane is an official deity now, or at least something like one. Hey, they already know her in Omnipotence City! As to whether or not we see her brave face again, that is up to Natalie Portman's decision on whether or not to continue in the role, but it does leave the door open for something very interesting.

In Norse mythology, Valhalla is the land of dead warriors and gods, the afterlife where they dine with their fellows, taken there by the Valkyries. Well, half of them, anyway. The other half are taken by the goddess Freyja to the field called Fólkvangr. Odin is there, and so are the warriors of legend. In "Thor: Ragnarok," Odin (Anthony Hopkins) dies and Thor says, "Odin, I bid you take your place in the halls of Valhalla ... Where the brave shall live forever. Nor shall we mourn but rejoice for those that have died the glorious death." 

In Marvel comics, Valhalla does exist, and is a region of the Asgard planetoid. (We also see it in the video game "Assassin's Creed: Valhalla," where you must die with your weapon in your hand to reach it, and we hear of it as the place the War Boys think they'll end up in "Mad Max: Fury Road.") It's mentioned in the first "Thor" film by Volstagg (Ray Stevenson) of the Warriors Three. Jane herself hesitates at the gates of Valhalla in "All New All Different Avengers," though she's resurrected. 

In fact, we know that we were going to see Valhalla in an MCU film before this. Director Taika Waititi told the Empire Film Podcast (via ScreenRant) that part of "Ragnarok" was supposed to take place there. He said, " ... we would spend a lot of time in Valhalla. Actually went to Valhalla and had this big showdown there but that idea only lasted a couple of weeks."

So what does this mean for the future of the MCU? This is all speculation, but first let me say that I love that we got to see not only Jane getting a reward for her heroism, but Heimdall as well. The fact that Waititi actually considered setting some of the last film in Valhalla, and put it in this one means that it's now a place we could visit again. (Bring back the Warriors Three and Heimdall from Valhalla! Put a scene in there where we see them all having a feast! Let us meet Valkyrie's former girlfriend!) 

If Portman does come back, we could certainly see her do what she did in the comics, becoming the first of a new generation of Valkyries. It might open the door to seeing some dead Asgardians again, including Odin and Frigga (Rene Russo). No one ever really dies in comics, of course. It's nice to know that the multiverse isn't the only way we'd be able to revisit fallen characters. It also has implications for seeing other afterlives, especially after meeting a whole lot of gods from a bunch of pantheons in the Omnipotence City scene. If you recall, we saw the Wakandan afterlife in "Black Panther," so this has precedence. 

If the Mighty Thor does come back, perhaps we could see that Captain Marvel/Mighty Thor team-up movie that Portman recently mentioned wanting.

Finally, even if none of this happens, and Chris Hemsworth does end up leaving the MCU with a glorious death scene, we could possibly see either Jane or Heimdall welcome him to the hall of heroes, letting us know that, though we won't see him again, his existence does go on. 

"Thor: Love and Thunder" is in theaters now.