See Arnold Schwarzenegger As A Grumpy Zeus Crackling With Lightning In New Video
Arnold Schwarzenegger is not happy as Zeus!
This article is more than 2 years old
We recently reported on a mysterious new project to involve Arnold Schwarzenegger, Greek mythology and an impressively shaggy beard. And now, thanks to Instagram, we can get a first look at the legendary actor and bodybuilder in character as the Greek father of gods and dispenser of lightning, Zeus. In this short video, a barista in a very non-copyright infringing Starbucks knockoff calls out a macchiato order with a mangled mispronunciation of “Zeus.” Schwarzenegger in full beard and bronze armor walks up with lightning courses over him, to get his coffee and correct the barista. It’s an amusing little commercial spot, which you can see here:
When a poster featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger in full 300-style regalia and the text “ZEUS FEBRUARY 2022” was posted without explanation recently, many (including us) hypothesized that we were being primed for a Superbowl ad. As it turns out, this was exactly right. The text caption to the Instagram video had hashtags for BMWElectric and BMWUSA, so it turns out that the Terminator himself is on board with the German car company. Oddly, BMW recently announced that it is shutting down production on its most prominent electrically powered automobile. But the company is also gearing up its annual line of vehicles, which presumably will feature new electric cars to utilize the star power of one of the 20th century’s greatest action heroes. It might feel a little disappointing that Schwarzenegger is not starring in a reboot of Clash of the Titans, but still…decent commercial.
In recent years, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s film roles have somewhat slowed down (at least compared to his 1990s heyday). Since 2017, he has only appeared in two films: Aftermath, a fictionalized drama about the events around a mid-air plane collision, and Terminator: Dark Fate. The latter, the most recent installment in the long running Terminator science fiction franchise, was received mostly tepidly by audiences and critics, and the future of the series is vague at best. But then again, Schwarzenegger has had a far more varied and odd career than your average action hero.
Arnold Schwarzenegger began his career as a renowned bodybuilder, as seen in the 1977 docudrama Pumping Iron. After several successful years of psychologically tormenting a pre-Incredible Hulk Lou Ferrigno, he shifted to acting, beginning his career by playing son of Zeus, Hercules, in a low-budget adventure movie. But Schwarzenegger swiftly found his niche in the 1980s booming market of hyper violent, quip-filled action movies. By the 1990s, he had added family films and comedies to his resume; a long in the works sequel to one of his most successful films of the period is set to begin production soon. Then, he famously made the rare leap from celebrity to Governor of the State of California, which had only been previously achieved by Ronald Reagan. Since leaving off, Schwarzenegger has mostly settled into an elder statesman role in pop culture and worked on his tumultuous family life. But it turns out that once the Super Bowl comes around, we will get to see both his Greek god portrayal and his comedic chops once again.
