What In The Holy Zeus Is Going On With Arnold Schwarzenegger's New Photo?

Arnold Schwarzenegger has a long and incredibly varied list of credits to his name by this point in his career, but a new photo posted by the actor and former governor has fans asking: what in the holy Zeus is going on with him?! In the image that Schwarzenegger shared, he looks to be channeling his inner Greek god for what looks like the poster for a big new blockbuster movie coming in February… but that’s definitely not the whole story. 

He took to Instagram to share an image that fans are clearly loving, but he didn’t drop any details to explain what exactly is going on. Take a look:

Normally, an image like this would seem to be hyping the release of an upcoming movie, and Arnold Schwarzenegger being cast as the king of the Greek gods wouldn’t be hard to believe. In fact, he even played a version of Hercules in one of his earliest film roles, although even his son Patrick said that “he was awful” in it. A Zeus played by Schwarzenegger on the big screen would make sense… except Schwarzenegger is not publicly attached to any film that would feature him as the character, and there is no news of a movie starring an A-list celebrity as a Greek god releasing in a matter of weeks. So, what’s happening? 

Well, “Coming February 2022” with very little explanation could mean that fans should shift their focus from the big screen to the much smaller screen, as this image may well have been Arnold Schwarzenegger dropping a tease for a Super Bowl gimmick, with the big game set to air on NBC on February 13. Super Bowl commercials are so legendary that some people watch the football event more for the ad breaks than for the actual game itself, and big-name celebrities often star in commercials. 

In 2021 alone, Timothée Chalamet trotted out to play Edward Scissorhands’ son for a Cadillac ad, Seinfeld vet Jason Alexander delivered a George Costanza callback to hype Tide, and those are only two big names of the many who appeared in Super Bowl commercials last year. Schwarzenegger going full Zeus in honor of a company or product for the Super Bowl isn’t the most outlandish idea! 

Plus, he’s not the only celebrity to hit social media to pose as a Greek god with a caption simply saying “Coming February 2022.” Ralf Moeller may not exactly be as big of a name as Arnold Schwarzenegger, but his Instagram post makes it clear that they’re connected in some way for a project coming in February:

Ralf Moeller is a friend of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s, as well as an actor who had a minor role in Schwarzenegger’s Batman & Robin in 1997. He also starred in the Conan television series that ran from 1997-1998 and featured him in the role of Conan the Barbarian, who was famously played in films by Schwarzenegger. These connections between the two actors and former bodybuilders don’t exactly explain what’s going on that Schwarzenegger is going full Zeus while Moeller is channeling his inner Poseidon, complete with trident and crown, but there are at least more pieces to the puzzle of what’s going on!

Whether these two are starring in a major movie project that somehow remained under wraps until late January, are part of the same Super Bowl gimmick, or have some other reason to post images of themselves as two iconic Greek gods remains to be seen, but I know I’ll be keeping an eye out for any celebrities who might post pics of themselves as Apollo, Ares, Hera, Hades, or any of the others in the pantheon in the coming days. 

Schwarzenegger has been making news over recent months for reasons completely unrelated to playing Zeus, and some reasons are better than others. He was recently involved in a car accident, and his divorce was reportedly only finalized at the end of December. As for what the future holds for the actor… well, hopefully fans won’t have to wait too long into February 2022 to get some more clues about what the holy Zeus is happening with him. For some viewing options in February and beyond, be sure to check out our 2022 TV schedule

Laura Hurley
Senior Content Producer

Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).