Well, the cat is officially out of the bag!
During an appearance on Australian radio station Joy 94.9, Russell Crowe confirmed that he will take on the role of Olympian God Zeus in Thor: Love and Thunder. You have to believe Marvel Studios was looking to keep this a secret, especially as this character's introduction could be a game-changer for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In the comic books, Zeus is the supreme monarch of the Olympians, a group of beings that includes one-time Avenger, Hercules. He also has ties to the Eternals, and battled Odin when Olympus and Asgard went to war thousands of years ago.
Zeus has fought alongside Thor in the present day, and his introduction likely signals the debut of a number of God-like beings from Olympus in this shared world.
Will Crowe be here to stay? That would be pretty cool, though it seems far more likely that Zeus will be a victim of Gorr the God Butcher as he travels through the cosmos killing every God he comes across. In other words, we're probably going to see Crowe vs. Christian Bale on the big screen next year. Exciting, eh?
When Crowe was spotted alongside Chris Hemsworth at a rugby game recently, he was rocking a mighty white beard, so he definitely looks the part to play this God...