Archive for the ‘Thor’ Category
For months the Intardwebz rumors have been flying as to who will be joining the cast of Kenneth Branagh’s Thor movie. While we’ve known Chris Hemsworth will be Thor, and Tom Hiddleston and Natalie Portman will play mortals, the Asgardians have been kept secret. That is until yesterday’s announcement that Sir Anthony Hopkins will be growing his facial hair out to play Odin, Thor’s father, and ruler of Asgard.
The Kenneth Branagh directed Thor cast might just get a little bit bigger if reports of new cast members is true. Matthais Schweighofer let slip that he, Jude Law, and Robert De Niro were all up for parts in the upcoming Thor movie. With all the Asgardians needed to fill roles, it wouldn’t surprise me to see other well known celebs make appearances, however with Loki already cast, I wonder what part Jude Law would play, let alone Schweighofer and De Niro.
Let your thoughts fly in the comment section!
There’s so much movie news coming out of H’wood this morning, that we’re bringing back the Rapid Roundup of Hollywood News. Some of it is clearly in the rumor category, while other entries are confirmed fact – we’ll leave it up to you to decide which is fact, and which is fan boy fantasy.
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Marvel’s Digital Comics Unlimited service just got a tad more interesting with the release of the exclusive three-issue mini-series Wolverine vs. Thor.
From veteran Wolverine scribe Frank Tieri and fan favorite artist Paco Diaz, begins a three part epic in which Logan confronts by an army of his greatest foes—all at the same time! How can Wolvie possibly survive? And will Thor join the fray as friend or foe?
Those who are already subscribed to the service, can check the issue out right here.
Here’s a bit of breaking news – Natalie Portman has just been signed to appear in the upcoming Thor movie directed by Kenneth Branagh. Portman will be playing Jane Foster, love interest to the Norse god.
From the Wiki
At first she was a nurse for Donald Blake, eventually developing feelings for him, not knowing that Blake and Thor were one and the same. The love triangle went on for a while, until Thor revealed his secret identity to Jane, and in return even took her to Asgard with him. There, Jane was briefly granted immortality and the power of gods until after failing to pass the tests of courage set forth by Odin. At this point, stripped of her new powers, Jane left Asgard to returned to Earth. Jane and Thor eventually broke up, and she later met her current husband Dr. Keith Kincaid and had a son with him. For a time, Odin even wiped the memories Jane had of Thor away from her, but she eventually gained them back. After that, Jane was occasionally seen assisting the Avengers when the need arose.
The movie is still scheduled to hit theaters May 20, 2011.
Now, it’s your turn to talk.
Yup, it’s another one of those cryptic images Marvel sends out now and again to signal some big something coming down the road. This time it has to do with Thor and Hercules.
Incredible Hercules #136, arrives in October.
File this one way down in the rumor column, as word trickles out that Jessica Biel has been cast in the upcoming Thor movie. The rumor has Biel playing the “love interest” to Thor, which means she could play Jane Foster, Amora, or Sif.
I’m not sure the Intardwebz were aflame this week over the announcement that J. Michael Straczynski was leaving Thor in September, but it sure had a great number of you concerned – especially when it comes to dangling storylines. Fortuantely, Marvel released more information about the changes ahead, that you can read after the jump.
J. Michael Straczynski has confirmed to CBR that he is indeed leaving Thor.
I agonized over this for months, then finally — and I’m trying to remember when the email chain took place, but I think it was somewhere either just before or just after the first of the year — I went to the ever-patient and wonderful [editor] Warren Simons, and the equally patient, warm and fuzzy [Publisher] Dan Buckley, and said of the coming event, “I really, really hate this, because creatively I’m having the time of my life, but I think I need to let go of the book or risk screwing it up when we hit the Event.” It was an awful decision, not just because it’s a hit book, but because it’s the only place I could do that sort of faux-Shakespearean style of dialogue that I love so much. There’s simply no other book out there where you can indulge in that.
There are no creative difference according to JMS, but the fear or Thor being influenced to the negative by “The Siege of Asgard Big Crossover Event”” seems like a good enough reason to get out while the gettin’s good. The exit does leave open the opportunity to do more DC work. The writer says he just completed his The Brave and the Bold work, as well as having already turned in his Red Circle scripts.
It’s kind of disappointing that a decision like this ends up forcing a writer to walk away as JMS’s Thor really got me into reading that title.
Okay, it’s your turn Spoilerites – DISCUSS I SAY!
Or at least according to the exclusive announcment that popped up on Deadline Hollywood. Chris Hemsworth, of the J.J. Abram’s Star Trek Hemsworths, has been tapped by Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige and director Kenneth Branagh to wield the hammer, and speaketh ye olde English.
The 25-year-old Australian hunk is a virtual unknown here in the United States. But he played “Kim Hyde” on 171 episodes of Home and Away, the successful Oz TV series where Heath Ledger started. Hemsworth is repped by partner and co-founder William Ward at ROAR management and agent Ilene Feldman.
The story of how Hemsworth landed the title role is an interesting one, and deserving of the link following. Thor is scheduled to bring the Krak-o-dooooooom! to theaters on May 20, 2011.
Variety is reporting that Tom Hiddleston has been tapped by Kenneth Branagh and Marvel Studios to put on the curly yellow horns of Loki to torment Thor in the upcoming movie. This news is hot on the heels of the confirmation that Chris Hemsworth (Star Trek’s George Kirk) will play the hammer weilding Norse god.
Kenneth Branagh, who is prepping to direct “Thor” for a May 20, 2011, release, already had a relationship with Hiddleston, having co-starred with the actor in the BBC miniseries “Wallander.” The two were in a London stage production of “Ivanov.” Hiddleston also played Winston Churchill’s son in HBO’s “The Gathering Storm.”
I’m glad things are finally starting to move in the right direction with this film. I think Branagh will bring the right look and feel to the story that will partly be set in ancient times. And while Hemsworth didn’t get a lot of face time in Star Trek, I was impressed enough to know Marvel Studios picked the right low profile star to bring the character to life.
Saved Whiskers Rescue Organization, Inc. announced today that placing up for auction original art drawn by artist Walter Simonson, who had donated drawings of his signature characters Thor and arch enemy Loki characters – auctioned off in memory of one of the greatest and nicest artists who had ever lived - Mike Wierningo – back in September ‘07, and won by Dynamite President Nick Barrucci. Mr. Barrucci is now donating for a charity that he believes Mike Wieringo would have appreciated – Nick is donating his original Marvel’s Thor piece by Walt Simonson and Marvel’s Loki by Mr. Simonson as 2 donations of original pieces of art to the Saved Whiskers Rescue Organization, Inc. (S.W.R.O.).
The Norse god isn’t going to be too happy with the news that Marvel has bumped the release dates for the Thor and Avengers movies back by almost an entire year. Thor, which was scheduled to be released in June, 2010, now has a July, 2011 release date, while the Avengers are getting moved to May of 2012 — which is just about the time that final issue of Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk hits the shelves.
Execs did not offer a reason for the deferrals; Marvel Studios chairman David Maisel said only that the move “maximizes the visibility of our single character-focused films, leading to the highly anticipated release of the multicharacter ‘The Avengers’ film in 2012.”
In other words, the company is choosing wisely to release one or two films a year instead of bunching everything up to maximize its return on investment. In this current economy, at a time when a film like Watchmen didn’t open as high as expected, hedging its bets and shifting release dates seems appropriate. A yearly release will keep fans happy, and ensures we have something to look forward to for the next three years.
(above image by Ben Towle)
We’ve discussed the relative ages of superheroes a couple of times on the Major Spoilers Podcast, and while we’d all like to think truly evolved heroes are in their mid 30’s, it turns out Thor is still twenty-something. Or at least that is the age range Marvel is looking for in the upcoming Thor movie as revealed in this casting call notice.
Male MUST BE MID-LATE 20′S and SIX FEET OR TALLER. LEAD.
Physically powerful, very handsome, occasionally egotistical, petulant, and wild. A natural warrior with a quick charming wit who must be genuinely and severely humbled before becoming the compassionate, mature hero of our film.
Man, I’m old. I figured Thor to be at least 43. Guess Brad Pitt and Matt Damon are out as possible hammer wielding heroes.
Of course he does, as this variant cover to Thor #600 clearly indicates.
THOR #600 (NOV082404)
THOR #600 DELL’OTTO VARIANT (NOV082405)
Written by J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI, STAN LEE & CHRIS GIARRUSSO
Penciled by OLIVIER COIPEL, CHRIS GIARRUSSO & DAVID AJA
Wraparound Cover by OLIVIER COIPEL
Variant Wraparound Cover by MARKO DJURDJEVIC
Variant Cover by GABRIELE DELL’OTTO
Thor #600 arrives February 11, 2009, and features a cover price of $4.99. This has to be due to the additional pages, right? Or is this a portent of things to come?
You can find out more about the issue, and what role Stan Lee plays, by checking out the interview with Lee over at Marvel’s website.
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