Russell Crowe has joined the cast of “Thor: Love and Thunder,” after Crowe was spotted hanging out with the film’s cast in Australia.
Details about Crowe’s role are being kept under wraps on New Asgard. Marvel declined to comment.
Taika Waititi — who took home the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for “Jojo Rabbit” — will return to write and direct. The filmmaker directed the third film in the installment, “Thor: Ragnarok,” which was written by Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle and Christopher L. Yost. Waititi also portrayed Korg in “Ragnarok” and “Avengers: Endgame.”
The plot remains under wraps, but at the end of “Avengers: Endgame,” Thor left New Asgard on Earth and hitched a ride to parts unknown with the Guardians of the Galaxy. As they got ready to depart, Thor jokingly referred to the group as the “Asgardians of the Galaxy,” leading to a funny exchange with Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) (aka Star Lord) about who really leads the team.
While the name “Asgardians of the Galaxy” in “Avengers: Endgame” mainly served as a fun pun — and probably also to set up Thor as a full-on Guardian in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” — in the comics, it’s actually an existing superhero team, and the reference could be hinting at a fun new expansion of the Guardians. The future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe after “Avengers: Endgame” is a great big mystery — and we’ve been having fun making guesses about what the “Black Widow” movie might be about.
“Thor: Ragnarok” grossed $854 million at the worldwide box office since its November 2017 release, and scored rave reviews from critics, achieving a 93% “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as an “A” CinemaScore.
“Thor: Love and Thunder” will be released on Feb. 11, 2022.
Russell Crowe most recently starred in 2020’s “Unhinged.”
Deadline confirmed the news of Crowe’s casting.