Fans of actor Russell Crowe can next see the actor as he joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Thor: Love and Thunder. Crowe will join the pantheon of the Marvel gods, starring as Zeus alongside Chris Hemsworth as the Asgardian, Thor.

“I never thought I’d see the day where Russell would appear on screen with hints at Gladiator imagery, yet with a wink-totally self-deprecating,” Hemsworth said of Crowe’s role in the Marvel movie. “He didn’t hold back. I’m such a fan. I have been since I first started acting. There’s such a weight and a seriousness to his performances and to him, as an individual, from afar. But meeting him, he has a great sense of humor and did whatever Taika asked on set, which was mind-blowing. And it was really fun to play with the mythology, going from Norse to Greek mythology – Taika pulls all these worlds together.”

Thor: Love and Thunder finds the Asgardian and former Avenger embarking on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced — a quest for inner peace. However, his retirement gets interrupted by Gorr the God Butcher, a galactic killer who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie, Korg and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster, who — to his surprise — inexplicably wields his magical hammer. Together, they set out on a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance.

Directed by Taika Waititi, Thor: Love and Thunder is scheduled to be released on July 8, 2022, as part of Phase Four of the MCU.

The first trailer for Prizefighter has Russell Crowe, Ray Winstone, and Matt Hookings lead this tale of the birth of boxing. Released courtesy of Empire, Prizefighter is scheduled to land on Prime Video next month, and tells the tragic true story of James “Jem” Belcher, an English bare-knuckle prize-fighter. You can watch the trailer for Prizefighter below.

Directed by Daniel Graham, Prizefighter is written by Matt Hookings, who also stars as Jem Belcher. The movie will explore the life of Jem Belcher, a bare-knuckle prize-fighter who became the Champion of All England from 1800 to 1805. As well as being the youngest ever world champion, and bringing boxing more into the mainstream, Belcher was beset with all manner of tragedy during his sadly short life, and was left blind at 22 and dead by the age of 30.

Starring alongside newcomer Matt Hookings in the lead, Prizefighter features an all-star cast that includes Academy Award winner Russell Crowe as Belcher’s grandfather, Jack Slack, with Black Widow star Ray Winstoneon board as Belcher’s trainer, Bill Warr. The rest of the supporting cast is comprised of Marton Csokas, Jodhi May, Steven Berkoff, Julian Glover, and Bill Moseley.

Both Russell Crowe and Ray Winstone are no strangers to the boxing game, with the former having starred as heavyweight boxing champion James J. Braddock in director Ron Howard’s Cinderella Man, while the latter boxed in real-life during his youth, winning 80 out of 88 bouts.

Prizefighter is streaming on Prime Video from 22 July, and is sure to be a powerful biopic, no doubt heightened by performances from Crowe and Winstone, and telling a lesser-known story that deserves to be told.

Actor Tom Cruise has long enjoyed a history of playing action heroes but never a superhero. Still, many of characters come across as indestructible to the point where they might as well be a superhero. Most recently, Cruise has revived his popular Ethan Hunt role in Mission Impossible franchise and is flying high with enormous box office success from Top Gun: Maverick. The soon-to-be 60-year-old star has revealed how he came close to playing Tony Stark’s Iron Manin the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Of course, the part went to Robert Downey Jr. who made the character and its armored body his own.

Prior to the release of 2008’s Iron Man, Cruise was offered the opportunity to play Tony Stark but turned it down. He has opened up as to why he turned it down. As someone who has a reputation for thorough work, performing his own stunts, etc., one of the actor’s priorities appears to be wanting control over the project.

Tom Cruise Proves He is Still Popular But Hasn’t Ruled Out Superhero Films

Paramount Pictures

Even Cruise admits that Downey has become so fused with Tony Stark that it is hard to imagine anyone else in the role. As for when he was first approached to star as Iron Man and why he declined the part, Cruise explained:

“[Marvel Studios] came to me at a certain time and, when I do something, I wanna do it right. If I commit to something, it has to be done in a way that I know it’s gonna be something special. And as it was lining up, it just didn’t feel to me like it was gonna work. I need to be able to make decisions and make the film as great as it can be, it just didn’t go down that road that way.”

In another interview, Cruise confessed he believes the role of Tony Stark was perfect for Robert Downey Jr. He said,

“Not close and I love Robert Downey Jr. I can’t imagine anyone else in that role and I think it’s perfect for him.”

When it comes to allowing fans seeing him play a superhero at some point in time, the actor does not rule it out but does say the project would have to meet his standards, stating:

“It’s what’s the story? Does it interest me?”

Whether Cruise joins the MCU or DCEU remains to be seen. Meanwhile, the actor seems to enjoy playing a hero of the mission impossible kind.

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