How Thor 4’s Zeus Is Different To Zack Snyder’s Justice League’s Version

Thor: Love and Thunder‘s Russell Crowe has revealed he’s playing Zeus, and he’s sure to be different than the Zeus Zack Snyder delivered in the Snyder Cut. To those unfamiliar with Marvel’s comic history, the inclusion of a character like Zeus might seem a bit weird. While Thor, Loki, Odin, Asgard, and such are indeed rooted in Norse mythology, that’s a world away from the Greek pantheon of gods, at least traditionally. In the pages of Marvel Comics, the differing mythologies have crossed paths many times.

In Greek mythology, Zeus is the god of the sky and thunder, so it actually makes total sense to make his MCU debut in a Thor movie. Thor is, after all, the god of lightning and thunder in Norse mythology, and is portrayed as such within the MCU as well. With that in mind, it’ll be interesting to see how Chris Hemsworth’s Thor and Russell Crowe’s Zeus get along, or perhaps don’t, due to their similarities.

With Crowe onboard as Zeus, which he made the world aware of in such a casual way that one wonders if Marvel Studios was okay with it, it’ll be interesting to see if his son Hercules shows up in the MCU as well. However, the MCU got beaten to the punch a bit by Zeus’ recent appearance in DC’s own movie universe, via Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Here’s how the two characters will differ.

How Russell Crowe’s Zeus Will Compare to Justice League’s

Zack Snyder’s Justice League wasn’t Zeus’ first appearance in the DCEU, although it might be his most noteworthy. In the Snyder Cut, Zeus led a coalition of races into battle against Darkseid, and managed to defeat the extremely powerful villain. In Wonder Woman though, it was revealed that Zeus had actually fathered Diana, as well as the film’s villain Ares, and had personally created humanity. Shazam! also confirmed that Zeus’ mythological half-human/half-god son Hercules exists within the DCEU.

While it’s unclear exactly how Russell Crowe’s Zeus will be portrayed in Thor: Love and Thunder, traditional Marvel lore refers to Zeus’ kind as a humanoid race called Olympians, and states that they come from an alternate dimension called Olympus. Since this dimension can be reached from Earth by scaling Mount Olympus in Greece, it does appear that these Olympians are the same beings written of in Greek mythology, although it’s unclear which deity created humans in the Marvel universe, if any. Hercules also exists within Marvel lore. On the surface, Zack Snyder’s Justice League’s Zeus and Marvel’s Zeus seem pretty similar, although one difference will be in appearance. DCEU Zeus actor Sergi Constance is a shredded 32-year-old bodybuilder, while Russell Crowe is nearing 60 and is hardly known for having a Herculean physique at this stage of his career.

This suggests that Crowe’s Zeus will be an older, and also perhaps wiser version, akin to Anthony Hopkins’ aging Odin. Zeus and Odin are generally portrayed as being at about the same power level in Marvel Comics, so this move makes sense. Marvel’s Zeus also doesn’t seem to have any familial ties to any of the MCU’s current heroes. It’s important to note too that Zeus is not always depicted as the greatest guy in Greek mythology, and it’s quite possible that Crowe – who has lots of experience playing bad guys – will play a wrathful Zeus. If that’s the case, he might do the opposite of Justice League‘s Zeus in Thor: Love and Thunder, and be an evil force humanity has to fear.

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