Thor

jedd_kenobi

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The first images have been released of the new Thor film and while there's been a bit of a discussion about it in the Iron Man 2 thread, it kind of deserves its own thread now as more information is gradually being released.

i'm not a big fan of the Thor comic books and not really read them but this is starting to look fairly good and the cast list is gradually starting to come together.
Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Hemsworth previously appeared as the father of James Kirk in last years Star Trek film.
Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Hiddleston is a relative newcomer who hasn't appeared in anything big yet. although he has appeared in Wallander and Cranford.
Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Portman is already well known having appeared in the Star Wars prequel movies, V For Vendetta and L?on.
Anthony Hopkins will appear as Odin, Hopkins needs no introduction and his role as Hannibal Lecter is still one of his standout performances from Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal and Red Dragon.
Jamie Alexander as Sif, she previously appeared in the tv series Kyle XY.
Ray Stevenson as Volstagg, Stevenson has already appeared in a Marvel Comics adaption as the Punisher in Punisher: War Zone. He also appeared as Titus Pullo in the HBO series Rome.
Idris Elba as Heimdall, Elba recently appeared on british tv screens in Luther but is also most well known for appearing in the great tv series The Wire as Stringer Bell.
Rene Russo will also make a appearance as the wife of Odin, Frigga.
Samuel L Jackson will not be returning as Nick Fury although he will be returning shortly after the release of Thor in Captain America: The First Avenger.
The film is being directed by Kenneth Branagh which is very surprising since i would never have thought that he would end up doing a comic book movie.

The casting of Elba has already caused controversy because of a black actor being cast in a white characters role. The die hard fans are claiming that there should be a white actor in the role.
The casting of Idris Elba as a Norse God in the forthcoming movie Thor has sparked an online race row, with comic book fans (and online right wing communities, obviously) spluttering into their keyboards in disbelief and rage at how a London-born black actor can play 'the whitest of the gods'.
Elba, best known for his role as Russell 'Stringer' Bell in hit TV show The Wire, will play the Marvel Comics character Heimdall, an all-powerful Norse deity who can see across galaxies and owns a sword that contains all the power in the cosmos.
That's pretty big stuff in the world of comics, and while some fans are angry because this choice deviates from the Marvel Universe (their logic being that any portrayal of a character must not deviate from how they are in the comic universe ), many are furious simply because Elba isn't, you know, white. The Marvel website has had to delete a few forum threads that descended into racial slandering, although a quick google of 'Idris Elba forum Heimdall' will reveal many dispiriting examples of how some people choose to spend their time.
Thankfully, Elba doesn't seem too fussed about the ridiculous reaction, jokingly telling Jonathan Ross recently that he was "Norse by way of Hackney" and in a recent interview with TV Times magazine, bringing some logic to the craziness. "There has been a big debate about it: can a black man play a Nordic character? Hang about, Thor's mythical, right? Thor has a hammer that flies to him when he clicks his fingers. That's OK, but the colour of my skin is wrong?"
original article: http://www.moviefone.co.uk/2010/05/04/thor-casting-offer-sparks-race-row/

the die hard fans seem to be quick to forget since the 2003 Daredevil film featured Michael Clarke Duncan in the role of the Kingpin. Strangely enough that passed by and no one batted a eyelid which is kind of surprising since the Kingpin is more of a bigger character than that of the norse god Heimdall.
this whole thing just puts comic book fans in a bad light and its these nutters who i hate the most. i don't care which actors they get in the role, as long as they get someone who can act. I said this before when they were talking about Patterson Joseph being a contender for the Eleventh Doctor role. I don't care if they get a black or a white actor or even a female one, i just want one who can carry off that role.

anyway, the film is currently scheduled for a May 6 2011 release date. A video game is in the works and also a Thor animated movie is also being developed to be released along with the film.

anyway, the images...
thor_concept_art_chris_hemsworth_01.jpg

thor_concept_art_chris_hemsworth_02.jpg

Chris_Hemsworth_as_Thor.jpg
 
The hammer is looking good. I know some have been complaining but I like it.

the die hard fans seem to be quick to forget since the 2003 Daredevil film featured Michael Clarke Duncan in the role of the Kingpin. Strangely enough that passed by and no one batted a eyelid which is kind of surprising since the Kingpin is more of a bigger character than that of the norse god Heimdall.
this whole thing just puts comic book fans in a bad light and its these nutters who i hate the most. i don't care which actors they get in the role, as long as they get someone who can act. I said this before when they were talking about Patterson Joseph being a contender for the Eleventh Doctor role. I don't care if they get a black or a white actor or even a female one, i just want one who can carry off that role.

I would not call them "nutters" and they do at least have something of a point. It is Norse mythology we are talking about here, native to Scandinavia and bits of northern Germany. One does expect a certain look. Kingpin does not have the real life mythology behind him. It really is not a big deal to me though. I'm sure Idris Elba will do a fine job.
 
It is Norse mythology we are talking about here, native to Scandinavia and bits of northern Germany. One does expect a certain look. Kingpin does not have the real life mythology behind him. It really is not a big deal to me though. I'm sure Idris Elba will do a fine job.

I think as norsk mythology, outside of die-hard heavy metal fans, has been completely hijacked by neo-nazi, white pride and aryan groups in Europe, making one of the characters black was the only way to have this film released in Europe without lots of bad press and the kind of audience Marvel does not want. While the U.S. still is an important market for movies, Europe is a bigger market than die-hard comic book fans, so the plan is sound, economically.
 
Well in that case it makes a good bit of sense. Still, Thor is white.
 
goood... gooooood. This will be a good one. Marvel really is hitting them out of the ballpark with these movies.
 
I think as norsk mythology, outside of die-hard heavy metal fans, has been completely hijacked by neo-nazi, white pride and aryan groups in Europe, making one of the characters black was the only way to have this film released in Europe without lots of bad press and the kind of audience Marvel does not want. While the U.S. still is an important market for movies, Europe is a bigger market than die-hard comic book fans, so the plan is sound, economically.

That's a shame, because in the States, Norse mythology, outside of prison gangs, is just plain ol' good classics-major fun just like Greek mythology. I love the stories of the Edda and the characters in the pantheon. I often say "oh my Odin" instead of "oh my God." No one thinks I'm a neo-Nazi.

(Of course, I'm ethnically Jewish and I look it, so I'm probably not neo-Nazi material).
 
slight bump for the newest trailer, looks really good and i'm a lot more excited to see this film than the X-Men: First Class trailer.
 
This was one of the trailers I saw last night before the movie "Sanctum." Well, it was A trailer...not this one. Looks good, but...I know this is lame...and I'm lame for mentioning it...a super heavy hammer head, and that tiny handle? Looks lame. Should have a bigger handle.
 
Opening on Friday. Looks fun enough. :D
 
Why does Australia get it two weeks earlier than us? :hmm:

And did they try to make Thor believable in the same world as Iron Man like I know they were talking about before? Like not making him actually magical because magical and magic doesn't exist technological heroes existing in the same world would be nonsensical.
 
It looks ridiculously cheesy if you consider the history related to Thor. They're making it all actiony and stuff to make it more appealing to some, I guess.
 
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