Russell Crowe is cast in a secret role in the upcoming Thor: Love And Thunder

The already stuffed cast of Marvel’s upcoming sequel Thor: Love And Thunder just got even larger after Russell Crowe was confirmed to be joining the superhero film.

The 56-year-old Oscar winner will be featured in the sequel to Thor: Ragnarok in an undisclosed role, Deadline reported on Monday.

Marvel fans already suspected the actor might be featured in the new Thor film after he was seen spending time with Chris Hemsworth and multiple other cast members at a rugby match in Sydney, Australia.

The filmmakers reportedly had wanted to keep Crowe’s role in the film a secret in order to surprise fans, but the speculation after he was seen with the cast made it impossible to keep up the ruse.

The Gladiator star posted a photo to Instagram on Saturday of himself with Hemsworth and his wife Elsa Pataky while they took a boat ride around Sydney.

Crowe is currently sporting a Santa Claus–style long white beard, which will likely be part of his character’s look in the film.

Also partying with Hemsworth and Crowe was Thor: Love And Thunder’s director Taika Waititi, who helmed the previous film, Thor: Ragnarok, as well as stars Tessa Thompson and Natalie Portman, who is returning to the franchise after being absent from Ragnarok. 

Jeff Goldblum and Isla Fisher were also seen at the Rugby game with the cast, leading to fan speculation that they might be featured in the film, though their presence hasn’t been confirmed.

Goldblum was featured in Ragnarok, so his participation wouldn’t be surprising, given Marvel films’ penchant for bringing back characters endlessly, though Fisher hasn’t appeared in any Marvel Cinematic Universe movies to date.

Crowe’s next big project will be The Greatest Beer Run Ever, which he’ll star in with Zac Efron.

The movie will be directed by Peter Farrelly, who previously had Oscar success with Green Book.

Crowe will also be playing the iconic American abstract painter Mark Rothko in a forthcoming film about his daughter’s legal battles to defend his estate and his paintings.

Last year, Crowe played a villain in the thriller Unhinged, which was one of the few new films to make a dent at the box office after being released exclusively in theaters. 

He won’t be the only star making a cameo in Thor: Love And Thunder, as Matt Damon, Sam Neill and Luke Hemsworth will be returning after making brief appearances in Ragnarok.

The trio made a hilarious appearance at the start of the previous film as actors doing a stilted recap of earlier Thor movies, with Damon playing Loki, while Neill was Odin and Hemsworth played his brother’s character, Thor.