How the end of “Thor: Love and Thunder” sets the stage for the return of [SPOILERS].

Spoilers for “Thor: Love and Thunder” are coming up.

Some of the time, Marvel’s mid-credits and end-credits stingers are jokes at the audience’s expense. But most of the time, they use them to set up a small part of the MCU’s future. Both of the “Thor: Love and Thunder” credit scenes are like this, but the second one may have just opened a whole new world.

The bad news is that Jane Foster, played by Natalie Portman, did not make it through the movie. Since we last saw her in “Thor: The Dark World,” she was diagnosed with cancer, which quickly got worse. At first, Mjolnir seems to help her keep the disease at bay and turns her into the badass Mighty Thor. However, we learn later that the magic hammer was actually draining what little energy she had left and making it harder for her to fight cancer.

Knowing this, she uses Mjolnir one last time to save Thor (Chris Hemsworth) in the Shadow Realm and finally defeat Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), sacrificing herself in the process. In “Eternity,” she dies in Thor’s arms and then disappears in a gold shimmer, just like Odin did in “Thor: Ragnarok.”

The good news is that, unlike Odin, we can see Jane’s body coming back to life after she dies. In the scene after the credits, she goes to Valhalla, where Heimdall (Idris Elba), who Thanos killed in “Avengers: Infinity War,” is there to greet her. The movie ends after a sweet moment between the two.

Also read: What Secret Character Does [REDACTED] Play in Thor: Love and Thunder?

And with that, we can’t help but think that two of our favorite MCU characters have been given an open-ended ticket back into the MCU, should they ever want to use it.

This is the first time we’ve seen anything at all about the afterlife on screen. We didn’t see Tony Stark walking through the non-Viking pearl gates, nor did we see Pietro, Gamora, or anyone else who died in the MCU. Not even Loki, who, in theory, could also go to Valhalla because he died bravely in what even the most strict person would agree was some kind of battle. (It’s clear that Loki, the copy who can travel through time, is still with us.)

By showing that Jane and Heimdall still exist somewhere, it’s clear that they could come back in future MCU movies.

That could mean that there are scenes in Valhalla where Loki and Thor watch over Thor and try to help him from above. Something like Buddy Guardian Angel, where Heimdall and Jane tell embarrassing stories about Thor and their time with him, maybe making fun of how he acts in battle. I think they could become the Statler and Waldorf muppets of the MCU.

But at this point in Marvel’s history, it’s possible that Valhalla is the latest addition to the multiverse and is actually a separate realm that can be reached by anyone.

Also, read about the nine best performances by Natalie Portman outside of “Star Wars” and the MCU (Photos)

People have come back from Valhalla in comics before, with Thor being one of them. Thor died and went to Valhalla in the Ultimates universe, which is no longer being made and takes place on Earth-1610. In that story, Hela was in charge of the afterlife. There, Thor and Hela made a deal: if they had a child together, Hela would let Thor go back to Earth. Thor did it, even though it was gross for obvious reasons.

The problem is that Thor couldn’t go back to Earth until someone else died in his place. The unfortunate person turned out to be Barbara Noriss, the woman he loved during that run. After she died, Thor went back to Earth, and Barbara took her place as a Valkyrie in Valhalla.

Now, Jane and Heimdall aren’t the kinds of people who would ask for someone else’s life to save their own, and Hela is pretty much gone. So a plot like “Ultimate New Ultimates #1” is unlikely, but not impossible. Still, there is at least one way to bring them back to the living world.

But in the comics, Thor also has a way to talk to Jane and Heimdall without using magic. In a later run of “Ultimates,” when Thor was the only one left alive from Asgard, he became Valhalla. With that came the ability to talk to people who lived in Valhalla.

But the MCU has shown over and over that it doesn’t have to follow the comics. Kevin Feige could come up with a whole new way for Thor to get to Valhalla and see/maybe save his people if he wanted to. The point is that “Thor: Love and Thunder” showed fans that Valhalla is real, but we don’t know where. There are a lot of things that could happen as a result.

Also, find out what the ending of “Thor: Love and Thunder” means for the MCU.

At the end of the day, though, the scene after the credits could have just been a nice way to wrap up Natalie Portman’s time in the MCU and show that she died a hero (the requirement for making it to Valhalla). Heimdall greeting Thor could have just been a way to use Idris Elba one more time and make a sweet moment between two of the most important people in Thor’s life. And that’s all right.

But we can’t help but point out that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has now shown that at least one afterlife is real. Surely, if there’s one, there must be more, right? It would be a pretty depressing turn of events if it turned out that only literal-god superheroes could go to heaven. This is especially true when you consider that this is the whole point of “Thor: Love and Thunder” in the first place.

This makes us think of a couple of other Marvel heroes whose deaths didn’t feel quite as final. Maybe they’re still out there, waiting for a camera to look in the direction of whatever cloud they’re living on.

It’s possible that that cloud is floating over the ruins of a magical mountain temple.

Also read: How Many Credit Scenes Does “Thor: Love and Thunder” Have?

Since the Soul Plane never really happened, the fact that there might be afterlives that can be reached is at least an interesting possibility.

What we mean is that it’s nice to know that Jane and Heimdall are safe and got the ending they deserved. Now do Wanda next, Marvel. Thanks