Zeus has officially arrived in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It has been expected that Russell Crowe would be playing the deity in Taika Waititi’s, Thor: Love and Thunder, but now the appearance is officially official. The first teaser trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder seemingly showed Zeus from the back, purposefully keeping his face hidden from the viewers. On Monday, the full trailer was released, and it didn’t bother keeping Crowe’s not-so-secret role under wraps.
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Nearly two minutes into the new Thor: Love and Thunder, Zeus is finally revealed in all his glory. Crowe is holding Chris Hemsworth’s Odinson prisoner for some kind of questioning, and he motions to flick off Thor’s “disguise” with his powers. This accidentally rips all of Thor’s clothes off and causes people around the arena to faint.
This is the first time Marvel has offered any kind of official confirmation regarding Crowe’s role as Zeus, but the actor did seemingly let it slip over a year ago while talking about his work on Thor: Love and Thunder. On his final day of filming, Crowe said that it was his “last day of Zeus-ing.”
Waititi has brought in several big names for roles in his Marvel efforts so far. Thor: Ragnarok featured cameos from the likes of Matt Damon and Sam Neill (both of which are expected to return in Love and Thunder). With this second Marvel outing, Waititi is bringing on Crowe, who he considers a good friend. Last month, he praised the Oscar-winning actor’s work on .
“I consider Russell a friend, and I forget that there are some friends I have who are really incredible at what they do,” Waititi told EW. “When I was on set with Russell, I was like, ‘Oh shit, that’s right! You’re Russell Crowe! You’re a really amazing actor!’”
In that same interview, Waititi went on to compare his work on Love and Thunder to his experiences making Thor: Ragnarok a few years ago.
“I guess the biggest difference would be that it was my first time playing in the Marvel sand pit on Ragnarok,” Waititi added. “This one, I felt like I’ve got a little more experience and knew how to shoot this a lot more efficiently.” And he knows that, sometimes, lightning can strike twice.”
What do you think of Russell Crowe’s MCU debut? Let us know in the comments!