Russell Crowe Almost Played The Devil In His Marvel Debut (& His Look Was Wild)
The Marvel Cinematic Universe once again bolstered its ever-growing roster of A-list celebrities by casting Russell Crowe in "Thor: Love and Thunder," in which he plays the Greek god Zeus. In the MCU, Zeus is the ruler of Omnipotence City and Thor Odinson's (Chris Hemsworth) lifelong idol. As such, it's a major letdown for Thor when he finally meets him and discovers he's an arrogant, self-indulgent hedonist who doesn't concern himself with the trifles of "lesser gods."
Although Crowe's detestable version of Zeus is a very memorable villain already, most Marvel fans don't know that he was initially going to play the devil himself. In a 2022 Instagram post, Ken Barthelmey revealed some concept art he did featuring the actor as the MCU's devil — complete with a pointy beard, red skin, and odd, antler-like horns that branch off at the tip.
The designer shared in the caption that Crowe was initially meant to appear as Satan for a cameo in "Thor: Love and Thunder" and that he was instructed to come up with something similar to Tim Curry's character in the 1985 movie "Legend," Darkness. The result is a sinister-looking devil with some absurdly large horns, one who would probably fit right in with the eccentric denizens of Omnipotence City.
Satan has appeared before in Marvel comics
Miles Teves also shared his concept art depicting Russell Crowe as the MCU's Satan on Instagram. This paunchy version of the character was intended to be "humorously debauched" and looks much more like the Crowe most fans are familiar with. The concept artist posted a second piece of artwork on Instagram as well, featuring the King of Hell reclining on a chaise lounge.
While it might be shocking to see Crowe appear as the biblical devil (especially given how hilarious some of this artwork is), longtime Marvel fans will know that Lucifer is actually a character within the comic books. The fallen angel first appears in the 1970 comic "Tower of Shadows" #4 and later has a major role in the first half of "Ghost Rider (Vol. 6)" after the titular character dies and winds up in hell.
Indeed, Satan is more of a minor character in the comic books, which is perhaps why he was only intended for a brief cameo in "Thor: Love and Thunder." At the end of the day, it's probably for the best that Marvel decided not to include him in its superhero film franchise — regardless of how funny this concept art may be.