Ted Lasso's Brett Goldstein kept his 'Thor' cameo so secret his parents didn't know until it hit theaters

Thanks to a surprise cameo appearance as Hercules in Thor: Love and Thunder’s fun mid-credits scene,Ted Lasso star Brett Goldstein is off to a strong start in his first-ever character outing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As the the son of Zeus (Russell Crowe), Goldstein’s Greek god materialized at the movie’s end to hear his father's call for revenge against Thor (Chris Hemsworth) — for, y’ know, that whole attempted murder thing.

Already the topic of Ted Lasso fan theories about whether he’s even a real guy, Goldstein’s clearly gotten a ton of additional buzz from his MCU debut. But as Goldstein recently shared with Entertainment Weekly, his appearance in the movie remained a well-kept secret right up until Love and Thunder had finally thundered into theaters.

Even by Marvel standards, it sounds like Goldstein had to guard the news of Hercules’ arrival as an Asgardian antagonist more closely than the treasures in Odin’s vault. “I didn't tell anyone,” he confessed to EW. “I didn't tell my family. They put a chip in me that would explode if I f***ing spoke about it. It was terrifying.”

When Goldstein says he didn’t tell anybody, that even means his own mom. In fact, he joked, he tried to trick his parents into being surprised at his big moment by directing them to the theater to catch the movie just like every other fan. “I sent them a text saying, ‘I've just seen Thor! It's really good! I think you'd enjoy it. You should go,’” he said. “They went, and my mum kept texting me during the film. I've always said to her, ‘Don't f***ing text during the film!’ She's texting me, ‘This is funny!’ I'm like, ‘Stop texting and watch the f***ing film!’”

It almost didn’t work, though: The incessant texting kept right on going — even when Hercules’ onscreen arrival was imminent. “It gets to the end, and like 10 seconds before I'm on, she's texting me, ‘Russell Crowe's back on, he's funny!’” Goldstein recalled. “And I went, ‘Look up at the f***ing screen!’”

Not even Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi seems to know what Goldstein’s MCU future might hold, now that he’s revealed himself to the Marvel-verse as Hercules. “[T]his will be interesting to see because [Marvel Chief Creative Officer, Kevin Feige], he’s obviously the mastermind of all of these threads and how they’ll tie up and how they meet, mix and match. So I’m curious to find out myself,” Waititi told Uproxx not long after the movie’s premiere.

While we wait for Marvel to hammer out its next big plans for Thor, there's plenty of time to study the film (and the rest of its Phase 4 companions) for clues. Ted Lasso fans, meanwhile, can bide their time by speculating on what's in store for Rory Kent (Goldstein’s gruff, soccer-coaching alter ego) as the series gears up for a third season at Apple TV+. Catch Goldstein as Hercules, along with the rest of Thor’s pantheon of frenemies, in Thor: Love and Thunder, now playing in theaters everywhere.

Looking for more superhero action in the meantime? Peacock is streaming Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin right now.