Thor: Love and Thunder Almost Featured The Devil Himself (Photos)

New photos have revealed that the Devil was almost introduced in the MCU in Thor: Love and Thunder.

The fourth Thor movie pushed things even further into the realm of the deities as the Asgardian dealt with the arrival of Christian Bale's Gorr the God Butcher and his conquest to kill all the gods. This storyline allowed for a vast number of deities to appear in the film, including the Kronan god Ninny of the Nonny and the Wakandan idol Bast. 

The movie even brought Russell Crowe's Greek God Zeus to the screen as one of the most powerful gods in Omnipotence city. Although it has since been revealed the original plans called for the actor to appear as the Devil in the film instead. 

Concept art envisioning Crowe as the Devil was circulated post Thor: Love and Thunder's release. However, it seems the idea to include the evil god made it as far as the makeup test phase.

Thor: Love and Thunder's Devil Design

Australian prosthetic and creature design company Odd Studio, which was responsible for the hair, makeup and prosthetics on Thor: Love and Thunder, posted images of a design test to Instagram recently, revealing what Satan may have looked like in the movie.

The images were posted with the caption "TBT to Satan!"

A further post from the studio confirmed the makeup test was conducted for Thor: Love and Thunder. 

 "FBF to our Satan. Such a fun character played by the hilarious Septimus Caton!! ❤️&⚡️"

With the red skin and curved horns, the design bears a lot of resemblance to the depiction of the devil in Marvel comics.

It also matches the early concept art that was released featuring Crowe as the Devil. Although, ultimately the character did not make it past the testing phase.

Could the Devil Still Appear In the MCU?

Given the nature of the story in Thor: Love and Thunder, it would've made sense for a celestial figure like the Devil to appear in the movie. Although Satan may have shown Gorr up as the ultimate evil in the film, therefore, it seems Marvel went the opposite direction and chose to give Crowe the role of Zeus instead. 

While Satan didn't make it into Thor 4, that doesn't mean this work done by the studio is for nothing.

Fans have been speculating for a while that Mephisto may make his way into the MCU at some point. In the comics, Mephisto is a demon who rules over a dimension named Hell. The parallels between Mephisto and the Devil are obvious and his character design quite closely resembles the makeup test above.

If Marvel does bring Mephisto into the MCU, the studio can certainly draw on the groundwork that was done for the Devil in Thor 4.

Thor: Love and Thunder is now streaming on Disney+.