With a villain named Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) at the center of its story, death was always going to be a part of Thor: Love and Thunder. Thanks to its sprawling cast of new and returning Marvel Cinematic Universe characters as well, the new Taika Waititi-directed film has room to say goodbye to, at the very least, a few of its central figures. Consequently, that’s exactly what it does.
However, while a number of the film’s characters come dangerously close to dying throughout it, not that many heroes actually leave the mortal world behind in Love and Thunder. With that in mind, here’s where Thor: Love and Thunder leaves every one of its major characters.
Thor
Some MCU fans likely went into Thor: Love and Thunder expecting it to be Chris Hemsworth’s last MCU adventure. While it’s entirely possible that may still turn out to be the case, the film’s ending certainly doesn’t suggest that the God of Thunder is going anywhere anytime soon. Indeed, Thor not only survives all of his deadly confrontations with Gorr in Love and Thunder, but he also assumes a new role as the parental guardian of Gorr’s resurrected daughter (it’s a long story).
In other words, Thor is still very much alive and well at the end of Love and Thunder, which means there’s currently no reason to think that Chris Hemsworth will be stepping away from his beloved superhero role anytime in the near future.
Jane Foster
When it was first announced that Thor: Love and Thunder was going to see Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster transform into The Mighty Thor, many comic book fans believed the film was going to set her up to be Chris Hemsworth’s MCU replacement. However, that’s not what actually happens in Love and Thunder. Instead, the film ends with Jane sacrificing her life in order to help Hemsworth’s Thor fight Gorr.
She subsequently dies in Thor’s arms and Love and Thunder’s post-credits scene even shows Jane being welcomed into Valhalla by none other than Heimdall (Idris Elba). Taking that into account, while it’s always possible that Jane may return in a future MCU title, she is very much dead at the end of Thor: Love and Thunder.
Korg
In a surprising twist of fate, Korg (Taika Waititi) actually comes extremely close to dying at one point in Thor: Love and Thunder.
During the film’s battle in Omnipotence City, Korg is hit with a deadly blow that leaves him crumbled and broken. However, after Thor rushes over to mourn his friend, he discovers that Korg’s face is still intact and, apparently, that’s all he needs to actually live. The epilogue of Thor: Love and Thunder then sees a fully reassembled Korg romantically partner up with another Kronan so that they can create a child together.
That means Korg is not only still alive at the end of Thor: Love and Thunder, but he actually gets one of the happiest endings of any of the film’s characters.
Valkyrie
Similar to Korg, there is a moment in Thor: Love and Thunder when it seems like Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) may actually die. During her fight in the Shadow Realm with Gorr, Valkyrie is brutally stabbed in the side by the God Butcher. Fortunately, the film quickly makes it clear that Valkyrie will be able to survive her latest battle wound.
The character is shown limping around the grounds of a hospital at the end of Love and Thunder’s second act, and the film’s epilogue later shows her comfortably ruling over New Asgard again.
Gorr the God Butcher
Despite being one of the most memorable and well-drawn villains in MCU history, Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher does not make it out of Thor: Love and Thunder alive. While the film’s third act sees Gorr successfully crack open the Gates of Eternity, Thor and Jane also team up during Love and Thunder’s climactic battle to destroy Gorr’s god-killing weapon of choice, the Necrosword.
With the Necrosword gone, Gorr is left with just enough energy to make a wish at the Altar of Eternity. Thanks to some last-minute advice from Jane, Gorr uses his wish to ask for his daughter to be resurrected, and — in a bittersweet inverse of Thor: Love and Thunder’s opening scene — Gorr dies moments later as his daughter kneels next to him.
Fortunately, Gorr dies knowing that his daughter will be taken care of by Thor, the very god he spends nearly all of Love and Thunder trying to kill.
Lady Sif
The lone surviving member of Thor’s original Asgardian gang, Lady Sif (Jaimie Alexander) makes her long-awaited MCU return in Thor: Love and Thunder. After sending a message asking Thor for his help in the fight against Gorr, Sif is briefly reunited with the former ruler of Asgard in Love and Thunder’s first act. During the scene in question, Thor stumbles upon Sif’s unconscious body only to discover that his old friend has lost one of her arms and is slowly bleeding to death.
Sif wakes up and warns Thor about Gorr. Her friend then quickly takes her to be treated for her injuries, and Sif is not seen again in Thor: Love and Thunder until the film’s epilogue when she is briefly shown training the children of New Asgard about how to defend themselves.
Unfortunately for her, while Sif makes it out of Love and Thunder alive, she does so only after losing one of her arms.
Zeus
For most of Thor: Love and Thunder’s second half, viewers are led to believe that Zeus (Russell Crowe) was truly killed when he was impaled through the chest with his own lightning bolt by Thor. However, the mid-credits scene of Love and Thunder reveals that Zeus actually managed to survive his confrontation with Thor.
As a matter of fact, not only does Zeus survive the events of Love and Thunder, but it’s also revealed that his brief battle with the God of Thunder has awakened an intense desire for revenge within him. As a result, Thor: Love and Thunder’s mid-credits scene concludes with Zeus commanding his son, Hercules (Brett Goldstein), to track down and kill Thor.
Taking that into account, it seems safe to assume that Zeus is one of the few new characters in Thor: Love and Thunder that will definitely show up again in a future MCU film.
Thor: Love and Thunder is now playing in theaters.
