Is Zeus Really Dead? Thor: Love And Thunder Shock Explained

Like any good MCU movie, there were deaths in Thor: Love and Thunder because death will always be a part of a superhero film. However, not all deaths seem to be permanent, especially when it comes to the Thor movie series, which focuses on gods that tend to be a lot more durable than regular humans. In that regard, there was a part where Zeus had seemingly died when Thor used the Lightning Bolt against him. But is Zeus really dead?

Zeus appeared to have died after the Lightning Bolt went cleanly through him. However, in the first post-credit scene, he seemed to have survived Thor’s attack and was recovering and recuperating from his injury while telling his son Hercules to take revenge on Thor on his behalf.

The survival of Zeus adds a new twist to the future of both Thor and the MCU because it opens up the introduction of Hercules, another prominent godlike character in the Marvel comics. In fact, his survival sets up the age-old rivalry between Thor and Hercules as we are in for a battle between two of the mightiest gods in Marvel history.

Did Zeus Die In Thor: Love And Thunder?

When the trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder came out, one of the things that people were quick to notice was Zeus, who was set to make his MCU debut in the newest Thor movie. Of course, he eventually did appear in Thor: Love and Thunder when it was released. But before we talk about his fate, let’s look at the events that led to Zeus’s introduction into the MCU.

It wasn’t a secret that Gorr the God Butcher was going to be the antagonist of Thor: Love and Thunder, as he was already revealed during the trailer and the initial rumors. He did appear in the movie and was able to nearly kill Thor in New Asgard before Jane, as the Mighty Thor, arrived. However, Gorr was able to kidnap a lot of Asgardian children to use as bait for Thor.

When Thor found out through Heimdall’s son Ax that Gorr brought them to the Shadow Realm, where he was at his strongest, he and Valkyrie decided to go to Omnipotence City so that they could convince the other gods to form an army that could defeat Gorr in the Shadow Realm. Of course, Thor was under the impression that the gods would help them because Gorr was all of their problems and due to the fact that he thought that Zeus, the oldest and wisest of the gods, was a great man that would be willing enough to help him.

Thor, however, learned the hard way that you should never meet your heroes. The moment Zeus was introduced, he didn’t seem to be the kind of god anyone would idolize because he was more into showmanship and trivial matters such as orgies and human sacrifices. He didn’t care for the fate of the universe and what Gorr had been doing to some of the gods all over the universe.

Zeus eventually called Thor to speak before him, and that was when he told the God of Thunder that he didn’t care about what Gorr had been doing because he was an Asgardian matter. On top of that, Zeus was more concerned about keeping himself safe in Omnipotence City rather than hunting down Gorr together with the other gods. In many ways, he was a massive asshole that Thor eventually realized was not worth his admiration. 

When Zeus wanted to keep Thor in Omnipotence City so that Gorr wouldn’t be able to find them there, a fight broke out. Thor, Jane, Valkyrie, and Korg defeated the guards that Zeus sent their way. However, Zeus realized that the guards were losing, and that was when he sent his Lightning Bolt weapon straight toward Korg, whose body began to crumble.

Out of sheer anger, Thor caught the Lightning Bolt, used his own powers to fuel it, and then hurled it back at Zeus. Due to the sheer force that Thor exerted, the Lightning Bolt pierced cleanly through Zeus and went straight through him. Thor eventually wielded the Lightning Bolt against Gorr later in the movie, as he and his companions had all believed that he had killed Zeus. But is Zeus really dead?

If you didn’t catch the post-credit scenes, you would assume that Zeus had died after Thor’s attack. However, it was revealed in the post-credit scene that he was still alive but was severely injured and wounded by Thor’s attack.

In fact, Zeus was monologuing how humans no longer worshipped the gods because they were more interested in superheroes instead. Zeus appeared to have been speaking to someone the entire time as he eventually told that person to take revenge on Thor on his behalf. The person he was speaking to was none other than his son, Hercules, who is one of Thor’s biggest rivals in the comics.

How Was Zeus Able To Survive?

As mentioned, Zeus was able to survive Thor’s attack, even though the Lighting Bolt went straight through his body in the incident back in Omnipotence City. However, how was Zeus able to survive that injury?

When Zeus was introduced, he was shown to be a fat and seemingly lazy god that had a thing for theatrics and was all talk and no action. It was clear that he was no longer his former glorious self because he looked like a slob that cared little to nothing about the affairs of the mortals or that of the lesser gods.

Despite the fact that Zeus appears to be a shell of his former self, he is still a god in every sense of the word. That means that it would take a lot to kill him, considering that almost all of the gods in the MCU are far more durable than any human being.

We saw this when Gorr stabbed Valkyrie cleanly through her torso with the Necrosword. But, despite that, she was able to survive and was even able to joke about how she felt that she had lost her entire kidney in that incident. 

So, if Valkyrie was able to survive what is usually a fatal attack from the Necrosword, Zeus should be able to survive a similar injury from his own Lightning Bolt. That’s because Zeus is potentially a lot stronger and more durable than Valkyrie, who isn’t even far stronger than a regular Asgardian. As such, the “oldest and wisest” of the gods should be durable enough to survive what would have otherwise been a fatal attack.