The Marvel Cinematic Universe is frantically trying to replace some of the major guns with some other big names after losing some of them along the way. Thor: Love and Thunder announces Hercules’ entry into the arena after some time of observation of this endeavor. An important spoiler for the upcoming Thor movie can be found in the scene after the credits, in which Zeus sends his son Hercules to discipline Thor for his misdeeds.
In this video, we will walk you through the famed comic book battle between two of the most powerful beings in the cosmos. There may be some Love and Thunder spoilers along the road as we also examine the potential outcomes when the unstoppable force hits the immovable object.
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How MCU introduces Hercules
It all starts when Thor, Valkyrie, Korg, and Jane who now wields the Mjolnir, arrive in Omnipotent City. This is more like a safe-house for all Gods, and the location is hidden from any non-God entity. The group intends to inform the Gods about the seriousness of the threat from Gorr the God Butcher, and they want to rally everyone to gather an army to put an end to his menace.
However, Zeus is least interested in helping, and it is evident that he and the other Gods are keen on having a gala time in the safety of Omnipotent City. Thor and his team are forced to fight for Zeus’ incredible weapon, the thunderbolt, which might be potent enough to fight Gorr. In the resulting battle that ensues, Korg ends up being disintegrated by a major blow from Zeus, and in a fit of rage, Thor uses Zeus’ Thunderbolt to put a hole in his heart. The viewers are led into thinking that the mighty God has fallen from the lethal strike, but the end credits prove otherwise.
The mid-credits scene shows that the injured Zeus managed to survive, and now, he is enraged over the preference for superheroes over Gods among the mortals. He laments how the mortals have shied away from their devotion to the Gods because the superheroes have made things easier, and they have been more approachable.
He wants to fix all this by teaching Thor a lesson, which would also prove to the mortals that their favorite superheroes can be fallible and defeated! We catch a glimpse of Hercules, who is being assigned by Zeus to seek out Thor and show him the true power of the Gods. Given the fact that MCU announced after the post-credits that Thor would be back, it adds up to how Hercules will now be his nemesis and the two will have a go at each other the next time they meet!
A Brief history of this classic matchup in the comic books
As you may know, both Thor and Hercules are an integral part of Nordic and Greek mythology, and their stories and legends have been around for thousands of years. Marvel, however, interprets them slightly differently. They treat them as real characters, who have existed and inspired the myths and legends around them.
It has been established in the comic books that Thor is the mightiest Avenger, but Hercules is an equal in terms of pure strength. He once knocked out the powerful Hulk villain Abomination in a single punch, and that is saying something! They both made their first comic book appearances in the Silver Age of comic books, and since then, there have been countless duels between the two, often ending in a stalemate.
The first encounter took place in Journey Into Mystery Annual vol. 1, in the story arc titled When Titans Clash. While fighting and defeating the Frost Giants, Thor fell through a tunnel and ended up on Olympus, which was the home of the Olympian Gods. While exploring the region, Thor came across a bridge that he had to cross, and Hercules stopped him in his tracks, demanding that no one could cross the bridge before him. Thor found the arrogance to be ridiculous because there was enough room for both to cross simultaneously, and thus began the first major fight between the two.
It was discovered that they were evenly matched, and the Demi-God could grab Thor’s hammer mid-flight and hurl it right back at him. The battle continued until Zeus stepped in to put an end to the fight, and he forced them to declare a bond of friendship before transporting Thor back to Jotunheim.
When Hercules got the better of Thor
In Thor #126, we got to see a heated version of the duel, when Thor and Hercules clashed over a woman – Jane Foster. The fight was ignited after Jane went out for lunch with Hercules to make Thor jealous, and now, the inflated egos of the two men wouldn’t make peace. Once again, they seem to be evenly matched, and this fight on Earth has some serious repercussions on the planet.
The two powerhouses battle it out across the city, laying ruins to the surroundings and pushing up serious collateral damage. If one hurls a trailer at another, the other responds by throwing a train or a building. Eventually, they end up at a construction site, and it is revealed that Odin is furious with Thor for disobeying him. He orders Seidring the Merciless to drain half of Thor’s power, and once he complies, the fight turns in favor of Hercules.
But, once Hercules realizes that Thor has been weakened he doesn’t have the urge or the adrenaline rush from the challenge to continue fighting. This battle turns out to be a humiliating experience for Thor because the mortals cheer for Hercules after his victory and he is even handed Hollywood offers to star in a Hercules movie. Although this marks a loss for the Thunder God, it has to be considered that Odin depleted half of his strength and made the contest unfair! The worst part about the defeat is when Jane reveals that she simply went on the lunch date to make him jealous, and her loyalties always lie with Thor. All this mayhem for nothing!
The payback is sweet when Thor gets the next chance to fight back. Hildegarde, an Asgardian Valkyrie, is deceived by Pluto, and she watches herself as a slave in Pluto’s underworld with Hercules and Pluto standing over her. An enraged Thor takes the fight to Olympus, and even though Hercules claims to have no clue about the vision, they indulge in yet another fierce battle.
This time around, Thor is clearly gaining an upper hand because he is at full strength, but once again, Zeus plays spoilsport. He stops the fight and reveals that Thor had been deceived by Pluto the whole time, and the whole purpose behind the battle is gone. Marvel certainly knows the art of never providing enough and keeping the readers asking for more, and this is one such instance where they leave the half-baked fight as it is.
Tables turned in favor of Thor in the modern-day contests
The six-issue comic series titled Thor: Blood Oath has a few instances of the two mighty warriors at loggerheads. This is when we see Thor resorting to his major strength – the use of lightning. It majorly impacted the fights in his favor, and even though Hercules found this to be an unfair practice, it did help Thor win the duels convincingly. Besides, how can it be called cheating if someone simply taps into their own powers!
There have been a few other amusing instances of these two fighting each other. Even an arm-wrestling duel is impactful enough to change the course of planets, and it is heartening for the fans to watch two of the most powerful men in the universe challenging each other.
Marvelous Verdict: Who is Stronger?
Enough with the history of their thousand-year-old conflict! Who among them is actually the stronger one? Well, unfortunately, there isn’t an easy answer to the question. Thor is the epitome of strength and the lightning God is a dreaded opponent for anyone! On the other hand, Hercules is all about his physique and raw power, and purely on the basis of strength they are simply equals who will end up in stalemates.
Thus, it all boils down to strategy and planning, which would prove to be decisive. Thor has shown more intelligence than Hercules, and in general, he has shown leadership skills time and again. Besides leading Asgard, he has also led the mighty Avengers in a few missions, and his planning and scheming tactics are quite immaculate. When he wields the Mjolnir or the Stormbreaker, it simply adds to Thor’s superhuman strength, and this might make him a favorite in a truly no-holds-barred contest.
In spite of defeating some powerful cosmic beings in the universe, Hercules himself admitted that Thor is the stronger one. Even though this was done to protect a Thor fanboy from being bullied by Hercules fans, it might have some truth in it! More importantly, it reveals the mutual respect between them even after all their memorable clashes. Hercules is known for his generosity of spirit, despite all his arrogance and other flaws. So, will Thor and Hercules fight till death in the next MCU endeavor, and if they do, who will emerge victorious!
The Path Ahead in MCU for Thor vs. Hercules
Now that we have established the intrinsic righteous nature of Hercules, it seems baffling why the two would even have a fight that serious! Yes, Zeus has a bruised ego and he has ordered his son to knock some sense into the mortals as well as Thor.
But, even Zeus might realize with time that Thor is not the true enemy. While predicting anything is a far stretch at this point, we don’t see Hercules being the real enemy in the next Thor endeavor. Yes, they might have a bit of sparring to settle the scores, but eventually, it will probably come down to a greater threat and the two might even get together to fight this threat for the greater good!
Previously, the likes of Captain America, Iron-Man, and Hulk have fought among themselves ferociously in the MCU. Civil War actually separated them into two groups fighting each other, but finally it is always about fighting together against the actual threat. Keeping the MCU spirit in mind, our predictions might just have ground in them, and you can expect a love-hate brotherly bond to develop between Hercules and Thor with time.
What if they fight for real?
Let us also quickly discuss the other side of the coin. Yes, it is unlikely, but always a possibility that Hercules will not be as righteous and just as seen in the comic books. Zeus didn’t show enough Godly behavior to begin with, and his selfish interests might be only concerned about his reputation after the bashing from Thor. In that case, the next Thor flick might see him taking on Hercules, and it will surely be a mouth-watering contest.
However, we still have our money on Thor as the winner. For starters, he now has the Mjolnir back with him. The present version of Thor is calmer, wiser, and a doting parent to Gorr’s daughter Love! But all these emotions haven’t taken away an ounce of his Godly strength, and Hercules might fight him to be quite a handful. Besides, he will probably be helped by Gorr’s daughter in this battle, who has shown to have some incredible superpowers herself.
Thor has the support of Heimdall’s son, who has similar powers as his father, and his two goats have proven their skills in crucial fights already. Overall, Hercules might still give him a tough time but we don’t see him winning. Of course, the biggest reason is that a Thor movie wouldn’t really see Thor being defeated permanently, would it!
Jokes apart, Love and Thunder did throw some interesting propositions at us, and the fans are delighted by the possibilities that lay ahead. Yes, there have been many who didn’t like the light-hearted nature of the narrative or how almost everything seemed like a parody of a serious Thor movie, but the entertainment value of the movie cannot be questioned. The mouth-watering prospect of Hercules vs. Thor is our biggest takeaway from the movie, and do let us know in the comments below about your thoughts on this iconic duel coming up, and your views on Thor: Love and Thunder in general!
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