It looks like Thor: Love and Thunder could have originally introduced characters from the X-Men world. And what’s more, even a cameo of the Hindu Pantheon, Lord Ganesha was apparently part of early designs. The fourth installment’s plot featuring Chris Hemsworth’s Odinson alongside Jane Foster’s Mighty Thor (Natalie Portman) centered on the gods of MCU with even the movie’s villain Gorr the God Butcher’s (Christian Bale) turning point arc revolving around one such omnipotent entity. Speaking of which, the film introduces several new deities during the Omnipotence City sequence where Asgard’s heroes ask for Zeus’ (Russell Crowe) help. It seems that particular scene would have included an Avatar known for granting Juggernaut’s powers in the X-Men lore.
The X-Men easter egg and Lord Ganesha cameo in Thor: Love and Thunder were apparently part of the early concept art exploration of the Thrones in Omnipotence City. The designs released by artist Sung Choi show Avatars in all shapes and sizes seated on their thrones but any Veteran Marvel fan would be quick to notice the crimson red armored god on the left. The character design screams Cyttorak and several eagle-eyed fans have also taken notice as well on social media.
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THEY WERE GONNA ADD CYTTORAK??? FUCK YOU WATITI https://t.co/VMQlglLZrN
— n (@n1kocore) August 12, 2022
I love this concept art of Omnipotence City by #ThorLoveAndThunder Senior Illustrator Sung Choi (@sungchoiart)!
So many deep-cut cameos: Ganesha of the Hindu pantheon, the mystical entity Cyttorak, the comic book version of the Eternal Ajak, Hercules, Mikaboshi & many more… pic.twitter.com/FT1yjGgFrA
— Max Marvel (@MaximilanMarvel) August 12, 2022
New #ThorLoveAndThunder concept art features the entity Cyttorak, the source of #XMen villain Juggernaut’s powers. pic.twitter.com/wmEuy22q0h
— X-Men Updates (@XMenUpdate) August 12, 2022
Yoooo that is literally comicbook Ajak pic.twitter.com/XIi1aGFXJd
— Namor Cosplay (@namorcosplay) August 12, 2022
We all gonna ignore Galactus on the left?
— JstStrange (@StrangeJst1) August 12, 2022
Cyttorak is the deity that granted Juggernaut his superhuman ability after coming in contact with the Crimson Gem found in the lost temple of Cyttorak. Also, the concept art includes Lord Ganesha too. If it had made it to the final cut – the son of Shiva would’ve been the second Hindu God in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The first appearance falls to Hanuman, the god worshipped by the Jabari tribe in 2018’s Black Panther. However, that reference never made it to the theatrical cut in India. Other supreme beings shown in the concept design also include a character that shares similarities to Galactus.
Its public knowledge that director Taika Waititi shot a 4-hour assembly cut that involved Avengers: Infinity War star Peter Dinklage as Etri the Dwarf King and Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster from Thor: Ragnarok. But neither character made it to the final cut. So no wonder the early explorations (which would have been nods or fan service rather than vital plot points) didn’t see the light.
Thor 4 still acknowledges the celestials from Eternals and introduced Hercules (Brett Goldstein) in the post-credits scene. Moreover, the Panther goddess Bast was among the Avatars in the Omnipotence City. Maybe there’s still room for Cyttorak to be explored with a supernatural twist, especially with Marvel Studios’ developing The Mutants movie.
