Thor: Love and Thunder has no dearth of deities, but one could argue that Russell Crowe's role as the Greek thunder god Zeus steals the show, coming across as an antagonist with comedic flair. However, it seems that earlier plans for the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie were to have the actor play another character, one more explicitly evil, Satan himself

Artist Miles Teves took to Instagram to unveil intriguing alternative images depicting Crowe as the malevolent fallen angel ruler of Hell. The work was commissioned as concept art for Love and Thunder by Australia's Odd Studio, which is credited for handling prosthetics and creature effects. The pre-production gig not only made Teves privy to Crowe's presence in the franchise's fourth film, but tasked the artist with envisioning the 2001 Best Lead Actor Oscar winner for Gladiator as a grinning, over-the-top depiction of the Devil -- with horns, hairy legs and cloven hooves while holding a chewed human lower leg.

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Appropriately, the results of the devilish depictions reflect the way Crowe's character would have presented onscreen through the audacious lens of director Taika Waititi's wit. This, of course, is what was ordered. "The folks at Odd Studio told me to depict [Crowe] at his current weight due to his character being humorously debauched," Teves said. "Naturally, I would have modeled for this drawing myself were my current physique not so rippling and sveldt." He added of his concept's cancelation, "Hopefully it wasn't because he saw my drawings. Though I'd understand."

While Teves did not divulge any plot details attached to Crowe's Satan, one could deduce that earlier plans for Love and Thunder would not have seen Thor, Mighty Thor, King Valkyrie and Korg enter Omnipotence City to seek Zeus, as depicted in the film. Rather, they might have sought help in the fight against Gorr the God Butcher by breaking in to the stronghold of Hell to grab an audience with its hedonistic ruler.

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However, there is another narrative about Satan in the MCU, one that connects the classic marvel villain Mephisto, who is typically regarded as the de facto Satan of the comic book continuity. Bearing a name that's a play on a satanic synonym, Mephisto was introduced in the pages of Silver Surfer #3 (1968), and has been a mainstay villain for several super-powered Marvel heroes. Moreover, he adheres to a biblically inspired proclivity for tempting heroes to make ill-advised bargains.

Pertinently, Mephisto's machinations-making comic book presence in the 1985 Vision and Scarlet Witch miniseries led many fans to believe that the Satan stand-in was secretly behind the surreal weirdness of the 2021 TV series WandaVision. While things obviously didn't quite turn out that way, the character continues to be a frequent red herring for mysterious MCU machinations. Consequently, the idea of having Crowe play Satan in Love and Thunder would have essentially taken Mephisto off the board. This might be the reason why the idea was ultimately nixed.

Thor: Love and Thunder is playing at theaters now.

Source: Instagram