Brett Goldstein surprised his parents with his MCU entrance

For some Marvel actors, the solemn vow of secrecy even extends to their nearest and dearest. Brett Goldstein, who recently made a cameo in a Thor: Love And Thunder post-credits scene, didn’t even tell his parents about his MCU debut. Instead, he chose to send them to the theater and discover it for themselves.

Speaking with Variety at a Ted Lasso FYC event, the writer-performer explains, “I didn’t tell anyone because Marvel put a chip in my neck that said ‘If you talk about this you’re dead.’ My mom and dad, I sent them a text and said ‘I’ve just seen Thor. I knew it’s not the kind of film they’d see. I said, ‘You should go see it. It’s funny.’”

“My mom is texting me all the way through the film giving me a running commentary,” Goldstein continues. “I’m like, ‘Just watch the film!’ It gets to the end bit, where it shows Russell Crowe… My mom texts me ‘Russell Crowe’s in it again, he’s very funny.’ I go, ‘Fucking look up at the screen!’”

He did, apparently, tell co-star Hannah Waddingham he’d been offered the role, but didn’t tell her when he’d actually accepted it (“I was like, ‘You cheeky bastard,’” Waddingham recalls). Goldstein will continue to stay mum on the future of his character, Hercules, though mostly because he doesn’t know what the future holds: “I truly, honestly—this isn’t me lying or being coy—I know nothing. All I know is what I did that day and that’s it. That could be it. It was a fun three seconds.”

Given the events of Love And Thunder, it seems unlikely that his godly plotline will be left there. Even if Goldstein doesn’t get more Marvel work, though, he’ll still be plenty busy. Up next he’ll serve as co-writer and co-EP of Apple TV+’s Shrinking, and earlier this year he signed an overall deal with Warner Bros. to “develop, create, and produce new television content for WBTV for all platforms.” One might even say that Herc is on a roll.