Thor: Love and Thunder almost gave Russell Crowe a very different role – Satan himself.
Concept artist Ken Barthelmey has revealed our first look at Russell Crowe as the biblical demon via Instagram in a new piece of concept art. He also offered up some info about how Crowe would have appeared in the Thor sequel.
“Russell Crowe was initially considered to appear as Satan in a cameo scene,” he revealed. “Eventually he played Zeus.”
Of course, Crowe looked very different in the final film, appearing as the bearded, gold-clad Roman god, Zeus. And when it came to the film's post-credit cameo appearance, it was instead another actor suiting up in a very different role.
But we can’t help wondering what could have been. After all, that concept art looks incredible.
“The task was to design a Satan close to Tim Curry's Devil from ‘Legend’ (1985); big horns, sleazy and evil. Because it was going to be a prosthetic make-up, I was asked to give him hairy human legs and feet. This is what I came up with.”
The end result is a very familiar-looking Satan with colossal horns and the unmistakable grin of the famed Aussie actor. And I can’t help thinking Russell Crowe would have absolutely smashed that. Still, what we got was an impressive turn as Zeus that suggests Crowe bagged the right role after all.
IGN’s own review called Thor: Love and Thunder “the MCU’s first romantic comedy, and it plays with those tropes in delightful ways. But while Thor and Jane’s relationship is handled well, Love and Thunder is less deft — and a lot safer than you’d expect — in pushing the greater MCU story forward. Christian Bale’s Gorr feels underutilized, and Tessa Thompson’s King Valkyrie takes a frustrating back seat, especially as the movie goes on. Taika Waititi’s signature humor and visual style persist from Ragnarok and are essential to buoying the movie through its cookie-cutter plot. With Hemsworth as enthusiastic an Asgardian as ever, Thor’s future with both love and thunder are bright.”
Thor: Love and Thunder stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, and Russel Crowe. Taika Waititi directed the film based on a script he co-wrote with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.