Thor: Love and Thunder was finally released to the big screen and fans have been flocking to the theaters in droves. Russell Crowe was one of the many stars in Thor: Love and Thunder, but it seems he nearly played a different character altogether.
Thor: Love and Thunder brought a lot of new things to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It introduced new characters, locations, and even rules to the ever-growing universe. One of the many things that this movie brought was the introduction of the Greek gods. In this film, Zeus makes an appearance, and this character was played by Crowe. The interaction and chemistry between Zeus and Thor, as well as the dynamic between lightning and thunder, was ironic, to say the least.
In a recently released concept art, it was revealed that Crowe almost played a demonic-looking character that many are assuming was based on Mephisto. The photo can be seen on the Instagram of Miles Teves, who is one of the artists that worked on the Marvel Studios blockbuster film. The artist went on to say, "Russell Crowe might be having a comedic cameo as Satan in the new 'Thor: Love & Thunder.' It didn't work out that way. Hopefully it wasn't because he saw my drawings. Though I'd understand." The artist had a comedic outlook on the different direction the filmmakers ended up taking with Crowe's role, but going off the artist's words, it likely wasn't Mephisto that Crowe would've played.
Mephisto first appeared in the Silver Surfer comic book series. The character is known for having an immense amount of abilities such as manipulation, illusions, super strength, immortality, and speed, to name a few. Mephisto is very dangerous, to say the least, but it's probably for the best that this character was saved for a future adventure with hopefully more of a darker tone than Thor: Love and Thunder.
Despite the new direction the film went, the concept art looked excellent and Crowe put his best foot forward while playing the popular Greek character. Seeing the arrogance and powers of Zeus made for a fun scene for many fans of Marvel's combat. The two personalities clashed and it became clear what separates Thor and Zeus other than their mythological backgrounds or titles. Here's hoping that fans get to see more of the other so-called gods as Marvel Studios continues to peel back the curtain more and more.
With phase four nearing the halfway point, it's going to become even more clear as to what it is that Marvel Studios will want from their heroes and villains. Many want to see more reoccurring villains while others just want to get into the world of mutants with the X-Men. Regardless of what happens, here's hoping that the X-Men come in time to work with many of the MCU's biggest characters.
Thor: Love and Thunder is currently out in theaters.
Source: Miles Teves/Instagram