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Russell Crowe’s Marvel return confirmed, but it’s not in the MCU

Russell Crowe is swiftly returning to the fantastical world of superhero movies, but not in the MCU proper or as the Marvel character you might expect.

Russell Crowe in Kraven the Hunter

You’d be forgiven for forgetting many details about the funky and colorful Marvel Cinematic Universe movie Thor: Love and Thunder, even if Chris Hemsworth still loves it. But remember Russell Crowe as Zeus? The Gladiator star appeared as the antagonist briefly as comedic relief.

While Thor 4 wasn’t exactly one of our choices for the best movies of the year, Russell Crowe‘s involvement did earn some chuckles. And while it doesn’t look like he’ll be back in that form (more on upcoming plans for the new movies in our Marvel’s Phase 5 explained guide), it’s been confirmed he will appear in another movie.

Keep an eye out for the Kraven the Hunter release date, because Crowe is back, and this time in the Sony corner of the superhero movies world.

As for what Kraven character Crowe will be portraying, that would be the titular man’s father, Nikolaï Kravinoff. We got our first look at him in the brand-new Kraven trailer, which you can watch right here.

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Crowe’s role seems to be substantial in the Spider-Man villain movie, as the trailer sets up a plot thread where a grown-up Kraven tracks down his shady and cold father. Presumably, things are going to end badly for one of them — our bet is for the latter.

Now, as for multiverse rules… this technically isn’t an MCU movie, but Sony’s films have acknowledged each other and Disney‘s movies several times: the Across the Spider-Verse cameos, the Peter Parker trio in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Tom Hardy‘s Venom appearing shortly in a Tom Holland flick. At this point, it’s best to not think about it too hard.

We’ve got you covered, too, with guides to does Across the Spider-Verse crossover with the MCU, how did Kraven the Hunter get his powers, and the Venom 3 release date.

Or, read The Digital Fix’s takes on the current state of superhero movies with our thoughts on why some things are more important than the MCU and how we still don’t know if Doctor Strange 2 was bad.