THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER Concept Art Reveals Russell Crowe Nearly Played The MCU's Devil (Mephisto?!)

THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER Concept Art Reveals Russell Crowe Nearly Played The MCU's Devil (Mephisto?!)

Russell Crowe plays Zeus in Thor: Love and Thunder, but some newly released concept art reveals that the actor was eyed to take on the role of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's sinister devil...

By JoshWilding - Jul 10, 2022 12:07 PM EST
Filed Under: Thor: Love and Thunder

Watching WandaVision, we all thought the series would include an appearance from the Marvel Cinematic Universe's devil, Mephisto. There were certainly enough hints that might be the case, but for whatever reason, Marvel Studios decided against including the fan-favourite villain. 

Since then, we've continued to see speculation online about future plans for the character, though he's yet to make his presence felt. If nothing else, Marvel Studios must now be aware that fans are anxious to see Mephisto in action, which could explain why Russell Crowe's Thor: Love and Thunder role underwent a significant change. 

As you can see below, an early idea called for the actor to play a devil who, we'd guess, was probably based loosely on Mephisto. 

While artist Miles Teves doesn't mention the villain's name, it appears Mephisto was going to be used as a throwaway joke. Then again, it's possible the God of Thunder would have turned to the devil for help before Marvel Studios decided that heading to Omnipotence City made more sense (especially as it led to a big introduction later in the movie). 

Valhalla is mentioned a lot in Thor: Love and Thunder, so exploring the MCU's version of Hell/Hel could have played nicely into that idea. We also can't help but think Crowe would have had a lot of fun with this role. 

Check out this new Thor: Love and Thunder concept art below:
 


The movie finds Thor (Chris Hemsworth) on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced – a quest for inner peace. But his retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who – to Thor’s surprise – inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor.

Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.

Directed by Taika Waititi, the movie stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Russell Crowe, Jaimie Alexander, Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, and Sean Gunn among others.

Thor: Love and Thunder is now playing in theaters!

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PeterDarker121
PeterDarker121 - 7/10/2022, 12:09 PM
Disney’s “Thor: Love and Thunder,” the fourth standalone Marvel story about Chris Hemsworth’s hunky Asgardian god, hammered home a box office win with its $143 million debut.

The movie, which is playing in 4,375 North American theaters, arrived ever-so-slightly behind estimates of $150 million, but those opening weekend returns are unquestionably something to celebrate. Notably, “Thor 4” enjoyed a bigger start than its predecessor, 2017’s beloved action-comedy “Thor: Ragnarok,” which opened to $123 million in North America. “Love and Thunder” also notched the third-biggest opening weekend of the year behind “Jurassic World: Dominion” ($145 million) and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” ($185 million).

At the international box office, “Love and Thunder” opened ahead of expectations with $159 million from 47 markets, pushing its global tally to $302 million.

Since the original “Thor,” which was released by Paramount, opened in 2011 with $65 million, the series has only grown in popularity over the past decade. But while Thor is a fan favorite at this point, the newest superhero adventure doesn’t have the multiversal component that fueled the massive turnout for “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” or “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” which is why ticket sales did not reach those levels. Though the Guardians of the Galaxy briefly appear in “Love and Thunder,” the story is more of a one-off adventure in the sprawling MCU.
-Variety
bobevanz
bobevanz - 7/10/2022, 12:14 PM
@PeterDarker121 - they're all one offs! Crowd pleasers for the stupid masses
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 7/10/2022, 12:25 PM
@PeterDarker121 - A Marvel movie makes money on its opening weekend, who could have though!?
PeterDarker121
PeterDarker121 - 7/10/2022, 12:27 PM
@TheHumanSpider2 - "A Marvel movie makes money on its opening weekend, who could have though!?"

Huh?
OmegaDaGrodd
OmegaDaGrodd - 7/10/2022, 2:03 PM
@PeterDarker121 -

That inevitable Thor 5 announcement is gonna turn this site into a bath salts pit
Shivermetimbers
Shivermetimbers - 7/10/2022, 4:10 PM
@OmegaDaGrodd - I expected to really dislike Thor, but I went in with super low expectations and I had fun with it. The humor was a little cringey at times, but I wouldn't say its a bad movie. Definitely on the lower end of the MCU ladder. I would not want Taika to write the next one, but he is a fine director.
Feralwookiee
Feralwookiee - 7/10/2022, 12:10 PM
There's nothing better than the embodiment of evil incarnate being used as a throwaway joke. 😐

There were so many bad ideas involved with this movie.
grif
grif - 7/10/2022, 2:30 PM
@Feralwookiee - they did not care about what happened to surtur either.
Feralwookiee
Feralwookiee - 7/10/2022, 2:43 PM
@grif - I know. *disappointed face again*
bobevanz
bobevanz - 7/10/2022, 12:10 PM
Unites
Unites - 7/10/2022, 12:13 PM
Just throwing the name Mephisto in for clicks, don't you?
Origame
Origame - 7/10/2022, 12:13 PM
They're just trolling us now.

Also, for all those saying Thor love and thunder was meant to be a kids movie, care to explain this then?
bobevanz
bobevanz - 7/10/2022, 12:15 PM
@Origame - easiest example without overloading your brain: Bao
Origame
Origame - 7/10/2022, 12:30 PM
@bobevanz - bao didn't have gore in it.
LSHF
LSHF - 7/10/2022, 9:47 PM
@Origame - I don't know. Trying to pigeon-hole films by classifying them is tricky because many, many films could be labeled several ways at once.

There were children in it that got kidnapped and became warriors (temporarily), so if that is something that kids would want to see, then someone might feel justified to call it a kids movie. But it's also a drama. And a comedy. And a super hero film. And a film about love. And I'm sure it could be labeled many other things.

I've seen lots of "comedies" that the drama brought tears to my eyes, dramas that had me laughing really hard, and so on.

And, of course, who can forget that The Martian was a "comedy". So, this labeling films by genres isn't all that's it's cracked up to be.
Spidey91
Spidey91 - 7/10/2022, 12:13 PM
that's an...interesting choice. I guess they didn't do it because then you'd have to ask "well, if there's the devil, then where's God?"
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