With the first few trailers dropping in the past couple of weeks for Taika Waititi’s (and Marvel’s) highly anticipated sequel Thor: Love and Thunder, revealing the cast of characters, a marvelous soundtrack, and potentially one of the most terrifying villains that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has ever seen in Gorr the God Butcher. Fans and critics alike have many things to be excited for when the unprecedented fourth Thor movie premieres on July 7th, 2022.
Thor: Love and Thunder will be adapting one of the best Thor stories of the modern comic book era (and maybe one of the best Thor stories ever): The God Butcher Saga. Following Thor’s investigation into the thousands of murders of gods throughout the known universe, the God Butcher Saga introduces one of the darkest characters in lore, Gorr the God Butcher. After his tribe suffers and his family dies during a massive drought and famine, and to no avail from their gods despite many, many prayers, Gorr vows to kill every god in existence, believing them to be completely useless. With a villain whose goal is to kill every god in existence, here are five gods that may make an appearance in the MCU.
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5 Hercules: Son of Zues
Marvel Comics
Heavily hinted at in trailers released from the film, Hercules has the most likely chance of appearing in the MCU. In the trailers, Thor presumably ends up in Olympus (home of the Greek pantheon of Gods), where we see Zeus (played by Russell Crowe) living happily and partying among the citizens and constituents of Olympus. In myths and legends (along with heavy appearances in Marvel Comics) Hercules is the son of the Zues, meaning audiences may end up catching a glimpse, or seeing him completely, when the movie goes to Olympus.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
4 Zorr’kirri: Skrull Goddess of Love
All the way back in 2019’s Captain Marvel (starring Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson) the Skrulls, a race of shape-shifting aliens, made their first live-action appearances. Since then, they have played a solid role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including appearing in the Disney+ show WandaVision. In the source material, Thor encounters a number of murdered gods and goddesses throughout his investigation of the deity genocide. One of those included Zorr’kirri, the Skrull Goddess of love. Though it may not be a huge role, an appearance by a Skrull character would do good to boost Marvel’s upcoming television event, Secret Invasion.
3 The Gilded God: Gorr’s First Kill
It’s no hidden secret that Gorr the God Butcher’s backstory and motivations are going to be revealed and played to the audience. The part of his backstory that most likely will be shown is his first ever killing of a god. As Gorr struggles on his home planet, he encounters a god dressed in gold (Gilded God) and a god in all black (who also shows up on this list) fighting each other. As the Gilded God loses, he looks over at Gorr watching, and asks for help. Filling immediately with rage at the request (a god asking for help, when his family asking for help from gods, did nothing) Gorr takes the sword of the black-veiled god, and kills the Gilded God. This is the day that changes everything for Gorr, setting him on his new path.
2 Knull: God of the Symbiotes
As mentioned previously, Gorr’s first kill happened when he found a god dressed in gold fighting a god dressed in all black. The Gilded God turned out to be no one of significance, but the god in black (who survives Gorr’s attack after Gorr kills the other god) is none other than Knull, god of the symbiotes (the alien race of which Venom comes from). Knull plays a huge role in recent marvel events (see Absolute Carnage and King in Black), but when he first encounters Gorr, it is when he was a much younger god. In the story, despite surviving the initial attack, Gorr steals Knull’s sword, known as the Necrosword, from him before leaving (which is the sword Gorr is seen using in the trailers). Though it won’t be a significant appearance, showing Knull would help set up future plot lines for the MCU.
1 Shadrak: God of Bombs
Another god who survived an attack from Gorr (though the rest of his pantheon did not), and a god who assists Thor in his mission to defeat Gorr, is Shadrak, the Oghogho God of Bombs. In the lore, Gorr comes to Shadrak in order to learn how to make the Godbomb, a bomb that will kill every god who has and will exist in the Marvel universe. Out of fear for his life, Shadrak tells how Gorr how to make the bomb. He later tells Thor of Gorr’s plan, and Thor heads to stop the Godbomb once and for all. Whether Director Taika Waititi decides to include the Godbomb plot or not may have an effect on whether Shadrak appears in the film or not.
