How did Zeus survive in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’?

The following article contains spoilers for Thor: Love and Thunder.

The 29th entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is finally here with Thor: Love and Thunder thundering into theaters. The Taika Waititi film sees Chris Hemsworth return as the Norse God of Thunder, while Natalie Portman returns as Jane Foster, who in this entry of the Thor franchise transforms into The Mighty Thor. 

While there are quite a few returning characters in Thor: Love and Thunder, there are a few new ones as well. Other than the film’s villain Gorr the God Butcher, played by Christian Bale, one other pivotal character joined the film’s roster — Zeus, played by Russell Crowe. 

Zeus made quite an entertaining entry in the film, and until the post-credits scene of Thor: Love and Thunder we thought this might be his only appearance. Of course, the post-credits scene revealed that Zeus had survived the wound he acquired in the film, so let’s take a look at how he got hurt and more importantly, how he survived. 

How did Zeus survive in Thor: Love and Thunder? 

When Gorr stole the children of New Asgard after he went on a God-killing spree, Thor thought it would be a good idea to travel to the city of the Gods, Omnipotence City, and rally them against Gorr. Thor sought the help of one God in particular — the head of the Greek Gods and idol to the minor ones, Zeus. 

Unfortunately for Thor and his friends Jane, Korg (Taika Waititi), and Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Zeus did not want to help, scolding Thor for inciting panic among the Gods. Zeus played it off like he was all-powerful and not afraid of Gorr, but he whispered to Thor that he didn’t want to go up against Gorr because he was wielding the Necrosword, a weapon that could kill the Gods. 

Upset at Thor for calling him a coward Zeus attacks the Odinson and his friends, reducing Korg to rubble. Not knowing that Korg survived the attack by Zeus’ weapon, Thunderbolt, Thor caught it when it was thrown at him and hurled it back at Zeus, seemingly killing him. It was not until the post-credits scene with Brett Goldstein as Hercules that we found out he survived an attack by Thunderbolt — but how did he survive?

It’s likely that Thunderbolt is one of the most powerful weapons in the MCU, like Mjolnir or Stormbreaker. But it is just as likely that the weapon was not as powerful as the Necrosword. After all, Zeus was not afraid of Thor wielding Stormbreaker or Jane Foster wielding Mjolnir, so why would he be afraid of another God’s weapon, especially when that weapon was his own? Zeus is also an all-powerful God, and we have seen many heroes in the MCU survive similar wounds. 

So there you have it, Zeus most likely survived just because his weapon was not powerful enough to kill him, especially when it wasn’t wielded by its owner. This did set up some major implications for Thor’s next adventure, as there is a good chance we will now get to see a fight between Hercules and Thor. Either way, after his performance in Thor: Love and Thunder, it will be good to see Russell Crowe play Zeus again. 

Go watch Thor: Love and Thunder while it’s in theaters now!