Thor: Love & Thunder Merch Supports A Surprising Zeus Theory

Screen Rant

By Erin Edmondson

Published Apr 20, 2022

After waiting a long time for official promotion for Thor: Love and Thunder, new merchandise seems to confirm the appearance of a suspected character.

After months of holding back promotional materials, merchandise for Thor: Love and Thunder provides evidence in support of a rumor about a new character to the MCU. When it was announced that Russell Crowe would be entering the MCU in Taika Waititi’s follow-up to Thor: Ragnarok, people immediately began speculating about who the Gladiator star would play. It has since been revealed that he will play Zeus, the Greek god of thunder; but the theories posit that he may not at first be an ally to Thor (Chris Hemsworth) or the people of New Asgard.

A Twitter announcement regarding new Thor merchandise provides a hint in favor of this theory that fits snugly with other positive pieces of evidence. In the lead-up to its release, Marvel is releasing a new line of toys in its BuildAFigure series modeled after the characters from Thor: Love and Thunder. With interchangeable appendages, users can put together several different versions of any given character. One of the characters included in this toy line is Valkyrie; Tessa Thompson returns as the character who now uses the title of King passed on to her by Thor in Avengers: Endgame. The description of her figure includes some information regarding her storyline in the upcoming movie:

When a dangerous new visitor threatens the livelihood of New Asgard, King Valkyrie is forced to take up her sword once more to defend her people.

This description, along with other evidence from the wider MCU, indicates that Love and Thunder's Zeus may actually be more antagonistic than was first assumed. This theory may seem spurious at first glance; after all, Christian Bale will also be making his MCU debut as Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder. Gorr has been an enemy of Thor in the Marvel comics who seeks to destroy all gods, and it appears this is his intention in Chris Hemsworth’s fourth solo outing as the God of Thunder. However, there are other important pieces of evidence that support the theory that Zeus may also cause some trouble for the Asgardians.

The first piece of corroboration is an Easter egg tucked within Spider-Man: No Way Home. Early in the movie, several news reports blame Peter Parker for disastrous events in which Spider-Man took part. A news ticker at the bottom of one of those mentions political trouble in New Asgard in connection with someone whose name starts with “Z”. Without fully confirming that Zeus is in Thor: Love and Thunder, this Easter egg makes it seem likely that Zeus is at least partially an instigator of the “political unrest” noted by the news ticker.

The Thor: Love and Thunder teaser also indicates that Zeus could be at competitive odds with Thor, at least in the beginning of the movie. The minimal clips of Crowe’s character depict a god who is comfortable in a position of power and leadership (possibly more powerful than Odin), something that Thor has struggled with through Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Endgame. If Zeus makes his way to New Asgard, there will likely be a power struggle between the Greek god and Valkyrie that prompts Thor to return and fight for his people. While not entirely certain, these pieces of evidence in conjunction with the toy announcement provide support to the circulating Zeus theory.

Next: Why Thor: Love & Thunder's Trailer Uses A Guns N' Roses Song