It always seemed unlikely Crowe would get more than a small role, considering Thor: Love and Thunder is already very stacked with big names. Not only is Chris Hemsworth returning to play the titular Thor, but Tessa Thompson is back as Valkyrie, Jaimie Alexander will once again step into the shoes of Lady Sif and Natalie Portman will also make her return as Dr. Jane Foster, who in this movie is set to become the Mighty Thor.
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On top of that, the movie will also feature Gorr The God Butcher (played by Christian Bale), Korg, Miek, and The Guardians of the Galaxy, who Thor left Earth with at the end of Avengers: Endgame. So, Crowe’s appearance doesn’t just make sense in a smaller capacity, it makes sense as more a wink to the audience than an important role with far-reaching connotations. After all, every time the MCU has cast a big actor for a role, fans have gotten an announcement. Except – of course – when there was an attempt to keep a fun “cameo” a secret, like Matt Damon playing Loki during the play at the beginning of Thor: Ragnarok, or Luke Hemsworth playing the role of Thor in the same play.
This opens up a few interesting possibilities for who Crowe could be playing. The first, and more obvious one is, of course, another Asgardian actor. Maybe the people of Asgard really did enjoy Loki’s plays. Perhaps the tradition has continued, even with Valkyrie as the ruler. And if this is the case, who could Crowe be playing? Well, maybe the people of Asgard are interested in a play chronicling the Infinity War? If so, someone would have to play Thanos, right?
Crowe could also be playing someone from Thor’s family, even if that feels a bit like re-treading the same plotlines from Thor: Ragnarok. With Bale clearly playing the villain of Thor: Love and Thunder, however, fans could get to see some of Thor’s nicer family members, like Balder Odinson. Balder the Brave, the half-brother to Thor, hasn’t been brought up once in the MCU, leading fans to believe he doesn’t exist, but, to be fair, Thor already had two problematic siblings in three movies, there hardly felt like a reason to bring up a third sibling, good or bad. If not Balder, another familial possibility could be Odin’s brother Cul Borson, though this seems less like an amusing cameo and more like a serious role.
A more fun possibility would be that Russell Crowe is playing Thor himself, just an older version. There have been comic book storylines featuring an older version of Thor, and ironically, the defeat of Gorr The God Butcher in the comics comes at the hands of multiple versions of Thor. Thor: Love and Thunder could be adapting this storyline by bringing Crowe in to play an older Thor, and Jane Foster to play the Mighty Thor. That’s at least three different Thors ready to take on Gorr the God Butcher.
Taking into account the villain of the movie, however, there might be a more obvious character for Crowe to embody: Zeus himself. This could not only open interesting storytelling possibilities for the future of the MCU, Zeus would also be a good character to showcase Gorr the God Butcherer’s butchering ways, so to speak. It would also be a memorable scene to see Christian Bale’s Gorr face off against Russell Crowe’s literal embodiment of one of the most famous Greek Gods. It’s just the type of cameo that might appeal to an actor like Crowe.
Finally, another, admittedly less fun possibility, is that Crowe is playing a comic-book friend of Thor’s from his time on Earth, Eric Masterson. Masterson was a friend of Donald Blake, Thor’s human persona, and though his comic book history is a bit complicated – it involves physically bonding with Thor, eventually separating, and Masterson becoming the superhero named Thunderstrike – this would be a different dynamic to explore with Thor. If anyone could use a real friend and confidant it’s Thor, who’s only ever had family issues, after family issues, and whose only “friends” are the other Avengers.
If he winds up playing one of these characters, and even if he doesn’t, the fact that an actor of Russell Crowe’s caliber wants to be involved with Thor: Love and Thunder bodes well for the future of the character. Of the superheroes who kicked off the MCU, only Thor is left, and only Thor is getting a fourth movie. If it all goes well, and the movie ends up being as well-received as Thor: Ragnarok was, then Russell Crowe might find himself playing whatever mystery role he’s playing in a possible fifth movie, too.
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