Warning: This article contains Thor: Love and Thunder SPOILERS!

Thor: Love and Thunder's ending sees Chris Hemsworth's titular hero vanquish Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), but sets up an even bigger threat for the inevitable sequel. And that threat could be considerably bigger than Thanos.

Thor's quest brings him to Omnipotence City, where a conflict with the Greek god Zeus (Russell Crowe) unfolds. As part of Love and Thunder's highly comedic tone (even by MCU standards), the Omnipotence City sequence is played for laughs to a large extent even as its action begins. Russell Crowe leans into the comedy of the film with his campy performance and fake Greek accent. In contrast to the much darker antagonist Gorr, the Omnipotence City scene wouldn't seem to be the setup for the MCU's next big villain.

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However, for as much of a campy goofball as Crowe's performance portrays the king of the Olympian gods, it could also be case of misleading the audience. Despite the silliness and the brevity of Zeus' appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder, the movie gives some reason to think he will not only return, but be quite a threat to the God of Thunder. Here's why Zeus might be the villain of Thor 5, and how powerful a villain he might be in it.

Will Zeus Be The Villain Of Thor 5?

Russell Crowe's Zeus and his maidens in Thor: Love and Thunder.

In the Omnipotence City, Zeus refuses to lend Thor and his allies assistance with stopping Gorr, with Thor instead forced to fight Zeus' guards in the arena. Zeus shatters Korg (Taika Waititi) to pieces in the fight, before Thor seemingly kills Zeus with his own lightning bolt. However, unlike Thor: Love and Thunder's other character deaths, the mid-credits scene reveals that Zeus survived, and has summoned his famous son Hercules (Brett Goldstein) to go after Thor.

The fact that Zeus survived a lightning bolt strike straight through his chest, along with the mission he gives to Hercules, does indicate that he'll have a substantial presence in Thor 5. While Zeus might be more of a commander for his son than a direct opponent of Thor, he might nonetheless battle the God of Thunder once more after the brief display of his powers in Thor: Love and Thunder. While the movie plays Zeus primarily as comic relief, his status and portrayal in Marvel Comics would make him a formidable opponent.

How Powerful Zeus Is Compared To Thanos (& Thor)

Zeus and his maidens fainting in Thor 4

In his comics portrayal, Zeus is an incredibly powerful god who rivals virtually any aliens or supernatural beings in the Marvel Universe, including the planet-devouring Galactus (who Thor: Love and Thunder teases.) That alone makes him a potentially much greater threat than even Thanos, but even his power displays amid his mainly comedic role in Love and Thunder hint at his power level. His aforementioned shattering of Korg is an impressively destructive feat. While only deployed on an individual level compared to Thanos' universe-scale snap, Thanos was only able to accomplish that with all six of the Infinity Stones. Additionally, Zeus has allies like Hercules and his fellow gods in the Omnipotence City in his corner against Thor, while also being essentially immortal, another attribute Thanos lacked.

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None of that is to say that Thanos was a pushover villain for Thor and his fellow Avengers, or that Zeus is necessarily set to be the MCU's next archvillain. The "Thor will return" caption at the end of Love and Thunder assures the God of Thunder will be back (though that might also refer to Jane Foster's Thor). However, tthere's no official confirmation of Russell Crowe reprising the role of Zeus in Thor 5. At the same time, Thor: Love and Thunder's end credits tease of Hercules pursuing Thor at his father's behest is unambiguous, and if Zeus himself were to return, his wackiness in the film might subside if he were to unveil the full, massive extent of his powers.

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