Nearly every major player from 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok makes an appearance in this year’s Thor: Love and Thunder, with only a few notable exceptions. Jeff Goldblum’s The Grandmaster, for instance, is absent, as is Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk. Most notably, the film is also the first installment of the Thor franchise that doesn’t feature Tom Hiddleston’s Loki.
For the most part, Love and Thunder avoids acknowledging Hiddleston’s absence. While the film does feature one brief but humorous reference to Loki’s demise at the start of Avengers: Infinity War, it wisely chooses not to send Chris Hemsworth’s Thor on too many trips down memory lane.
That said, one new fan theory speculates that the Thor: Love and Thunder post-credits scene opens the door for Thor and Loki to one day reunite on-screen.
Welcomed Into Valhalla — Following the recent release of Thor: Love and Thunder, a Marvel fan took to Reddit to break down why they believe the film indirectly confirms that Loki went to Valhalla after being killed by Thanos in Infinity War. As the Redditor notes, Love and Thunder goes out of its way to say that only those who are killed in battle or are Norse gods are welcomed into Valhalla.
Loki fulfills both requirements. Not only is he canonically the Norse God of Mischief, but he also died fighting the Mad Titan himself. Heimdall (Idris Elba) dies much like Loki did in Infinity War, and Love and Thunder’s post-credits scene confirms that he ended up in Valhalla. There’s therefore no reason to believe that Loki wasn’t welcomed to Valhalla alongside Heimdall.
The Thor: Love and Thunder post-credits scene, which shows Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster being welcomed into Valhalla by Elba’s Heimdall, also proves that Marvel isn’t afraid of taking viewers to the mythological paradise. In doing so, Marvel has just given itself the chance to wrap up Thor’s storyline in a truly impactful way.
R.I.P. Loki — While Loki’s absence from the film isn’t ever really addressed or acknowledged, Love and Thunder does hint that Thor is still mourning his brother’s death. The film even briefly reveals that Thor got a number of back tattoos in remembrance of his brother.
Even though Thor’s future adventures in the MCU may not end up being particularly relevant to Loki’s death, Love and Thunder makes it clear that the two characters’ relationship hasn’t been forgotten. That’s worth noting, because there’s a very real chance that Thor himself may one day make a trip to Valhalla.
After all, while Chris Hemsworth doesn’t seem interested in leaving the MCU anytime soon, his version of Thor will have to step out of the spotlight at some point. Taking that into account, Love and Thunder raises the possibility that Thor’s MCU swan song could very well see him die and travel to Valhalla to reunite with his lost loved ones, including Heimdall, Jane, and Loki.
The Inverse Analysis — Marvel has a hard time saying goodbye to its characters. That’s a shame, because the studio has also shown that it can send its heroes off in truly beautiful ways when it chooses to, as it did with Steve Rogers and Tony Stark in Avengers: Endgame.
But Marvel and Chris Hemsworth will eventually have to part ways at some point. While there are a number of different ways that Marvel could choose to bring Thor’s story to a close, it’s hard to imagine any farewell to the character landing quite as impactfully as he and Loki reuniting in Valhalla.
Of course, a future Marvel movie could also see Loki escape from Valhalla and reenter the prime material plane. For what it’s worth, that certainly wouldn’t be the most surprising thing the God of Mischief has ever done in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Thor: Love and Thunder is now playing in theaters.
