This article contains major spoilers for Thor: Love and Thunder, please proceed with caution. Thor: Love & Thunder is Thor’s 4th solo outing in the MCU. The film marks the return of regular players in a Thor film and some new entries- Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Natalie Portman, Russell Crowe, Taika Waititi and Christian Bale. The film is directed by Thor: Ragnarok fame Taika Waititi. The film focuses on Thor’s journey after the events of Endgame. We seemingly weren’t sure where Thor’s story would go next but this film gives us a good idea of it. We’re introduced to Gorr the God Butcher in this film. The film is just above 2 hours and to wrap it up quickly it is mixed bag of emotions and dry humor. With conflicting tones and misplaced humor the movie was a good but mediocre affair.
However, if you want to check out our full review you can click here. The film ended on a bittersweet note as we saw Jane Foster or the Mighty Thor die as she’d exhausted her mortal energy trying to wield the Mjolnir. Gorr dies as well but he is able to resurrect his daughter as he finds the Marvel entity Eternity. Jane convinces Gorr to change his wish from mascaraing all Gods to getting his daughter back but he was afraid she’ll be alone. She won’t be alone as Thor adopts her, as Korg says Thor would make a great dad. But as we take a look at the post credits scene. We see that she has entered a new realm where she meets Heimdall and he welcomes her to Valhalla but the last I checked wasn’t Jane human? So how could she entered Valhalla? Let’s find out.
Thor: Love and Thunder – Valhalla Explained
This image is from Avengers: Age of Ultron when Scarlett Witch cast a spell on him where he saw Heimdall in Valhalla as he saw Asgard getting destroyed and had a vision of the Infinity Stones. Valhalla is an afterlife like place for Asgardians or Gods. In Ragnarok, when Odin disintegrates in Norway, he diffuses into gold particles. That was a sign of him getting a place in Valhalla. Although, when we saw Heimdall and Loki die in Infinity War they didn’t disintegrate into gold particles. So did they get a place?
Well, we don’t know about Loki but Heimdall definitely got a place, as evident from Love & Thunder’s post credit scene. In the same post credit scene, we learn that Jane has gotten a place in Valhalla and this was actually hinted at in the film. Jane disintegrated into gold sprinkles as she met her maker. So she had a visual cue like Odin but Heimdall & Loki didn’t. So, I’m not sure whether this visual cue is reliable or not, or did Marvel simply forgot to add the gold sprinkles.
Why Did Jane Foster Go To Valhalla?
Jane unlike her lover is human and humans can’t get to Valhalla. This has been clear in the MCU as well as in Norse Mythology. I think throughout the film the Valhalla talk was a foreshadowing of Jane’s fate. In the scene with Lady Sif, it is clearly established that Asgardians attain a place in Valhalla only when they die in battle. However, I’m not sure whether it is only Asgardians or all Vikings. It should technically be Vikings. So, in the scene where Jane shatters a sink. Valkyrie calms her down and specifically says she is a Viking.
Thor is also called Space Viking in the film. So, in that manner she does have a reason to get to Valhalla. Also, in the Marvel comics there is a precedence for mortals being deemed worthy of Valhalla. Jane Foster, Frank Castle, and Flash Thompson of humans to get into Valhalla. So even if you don’t buy my Viking theory, this is a way. She did pass the most unnegotiable condition though- dying in battle. She died wielding Mjolnir for one last while fighting Gorr the God Butcher.
Also, she did become the Mighty Thor and so she is does classify as a non human. Thus, her getting to Valhalla isn’t bizarre. Though, I agree the film didn’t do a great job in explaining or properly defining the rules of Valhalla.
Thor: Love and Thunder – Can Jane Foster Return?
As we all are aware Thor movies don’t have a great record with deaths. I think they have the most number of fake deaths. Looking at you Loki. However, that changed with Infinity war and Endgame where all the deaths in those movies were definites and there were no resurrections. I mean except for the dusted Avengers. Although, Thor: Love & Thunder showed Jane’s as definite but her showing up in Valhalla in the post credit scene with Heimdall does raises some questions.
In the comics, there is a storyline where Thor couldn’t bear Jane’s demise and called her soul from Valhalla through Odin’s and Mjolnir’s power. In this version Odin accompanies Jane instead of Heimdall but the base for such a story isn’t laid at the end of Love & Thunder. In another storyline, Thor remains the solo Asgardian alive and thus he himself became Valhalla. Odin when realized this he left Valhalla and placed his consciousness in Mjolnir. Something like this can happen with Jane as well.
As for when will she return, the schedule that Marvel has released for its movies and TV shows like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Antman and the Wasp: Quantomania, it doesn’t seems likely that Jane and Heimdall can naturally appear in any of these movies. However, it is possible like Agatha: House of Harkness, Marvel can announce a series for Jane and Heimdall where they try to get out of Valhalla and reunite with Thor.
However, the most likely scenario is Jane’s story will be continued in Thor 5, whenever that is announced. I’m sure there is more to Jane and she will return. Though, personally I wish they’d honor her sacrifice and let her be at peace.
Do you have questions about this film? Do you agree with my theory on this? Thor: Love & Thunder is currently playing in theatres.
If you have any questions regarding Thor: Love & Thunder, feel free to ask in the comments below. For more content, stay tuned. As usual, like, subscribe and share our articles as we here are trying to build a community of people High on Cinema!
