Director Kenneth Branagh is flying through the casting process for Marvel Studios’ Thor, which is set for release in 2011. Most of the principals are in place and here they are:
Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Tom Hiddleston as Loki
Sir Anthony Hopkins as Odin
Natalie Portman as Jane Foster
Idris Elba as Heimdall
Ray Stevenson as Volstagg
Tadanobu Asano as Hogun
Stuart Townsend as Fandral
Looks good from the casting side. And Kenneth Branagh is a great director. I’m really excited for this one. Between Thor and The First Avenger: Captain America, the summer of 2011 is going to be really exciting. You know, assuming there are no delays.
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They all seem like really good choices. Specially Anthony Hopkins
#1 Marvel movie I’m excited to see.
So are we going to get the Human Stain Hopkins or "can I have my money now Hopkins?" MI2 Hopkins?
regardless, I would like to see Brannagh’s take.
And if you are going to have a token Black Guy, Idris Elba is the best choice you can have. That guy is a really good actor.
With Branagh directing I would bet we’ll get a very good performance from Hopkins as well as everyone else.
"We" are certainly looking forward to this movie, but I’m wondering what kind of reaction the "general public" will have leading up to its release.
Kenneth Branagh is one of my favorite directors/actors of all time if only for Hamlet. That movie is a friggin’ masterpiece.
The cast member that I’m most excited to see is Tadanobu Anaso, as he’s one of my favorite Japanese actors. Some people would recognize him as the awesomely evil Kakihara from Ichi the Killer, but he also tore up the screen in Zatoichi and the cool & weird short film Electric Dragon 80000V. Love this guy!
N…Na….Natalie Portman <3 <3 HUGS!
This looks like solid casting. I’m glad to see Marvel is trying to do this right. Now I just need to find out who Fandral, Volstagg, Hogun, Heimdall, and Ms. Foster are, since I have never read a single Thor arc.
@comicBOOKchris – Electric Dragon 80000V ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuules!!!!
I can’t picture Ray Stevenson as Volstagg but the rest look solid.
I’m not sure how Heimdall can be an African-Norwegian god since ancient Norwegians never worshiped such a god. I’m sure I’ll think of some reason.
This is all really solid casting. And I like that we’re getting a little multi-ethnic, too. Idris Elba can definitely be the somber badass that is Heimdall. The guy cast as Hogun looks perfect, too. I always thought they were hinting that Hogun was Mongolian, or at the very least, one of Attila’s people. I’ll be curious to see who are cast for Lady Sif and Balder to round out the cast. This has the makings of being an awesome "mythology" film moreso than even the super hero movie.
very nice.
This looks like it’s shaping up to be an awesome movie. Tom Hiddleston looks like Loki to me. When I first head he was casted I went to his IMDB page and was giddy with excitement.
I can only hope Kenneth has Idris wear his Stringer Bell granny glasses (insert winking emoticon).
I applaud his decisions! What great casting. I would have loved to see Brian Cox as Odin but its hard to argue the choice.
No Blader/Sif announcements yet? HMMMMMMM.
Bean
Ray Stevenson as Volstagg is the only one I’m not sure about. I like him just fine, but I really wish they would have gotten someone who has the build of the Voluminous One.
I don’t care what anyone says. Seann William Scott would’ve been the perfect guy to play Thor. This guy is a "plastic" and that will come across in the movie. Other casting looks ok. I just don’t want an "exposition" movie full of F/X and simplistic story.
I hope Balder is in the movie.
I think this will end up being pretty good.
It looks pretty solid casting wise And I definitely have confidence in Branagh. I really do hope that they take more of a “Lord of the Rings” approach then an X-Men approach. I think it could be an epic fantasy movie rather than superhero type movie
If this can evoke the same emotions from me that Henry V did, I will be one happy Thor fan.
I still think the casting is off for Thor. I also think this is a waste of Branagh’s incredible talent, unless he compiles the script from Shakespeare, then I might pay money to see it.
Nice cast, although I must admit I do not know who is playing Loki and Thor. Even looking at imdb.com, I dont know who they are.
Also, I still have a problem with Portman as the female lead. I’m just not a fan of her so if there are any weak links in this for me it would be her. Still….I am looking forward to this just as much as everyone else.
This is a great cast. All the choices make sense to me. Asano Tadanobu is also one of my favorite Japanese actors, so I can’t wait to see him in this. The only casting choice I’m disappointed with is Chris Hemsworth for Thor. The reason is that after I saw his performance as Kirk’s father in the J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot, I thought he would be perfect as Captain America. He’s young enough, big enough, blonde enough, and, most importantly, when he took command of the ship in the captain’s absence, I just felt his presence. You KNEW he was born leader. His compassion and stoicism were perfect. I guess he’ll do as Thor.
Any word yet on who’s going to play Cap?
@fnord
I think a more interesting casting call is Volstagg being played by an in-shape man (fat suit, maybe?). I’d say that the gods transcend race, and Stringer Bell transcends both…
Oh damnit! In the same way as Kodaiji was thinking for Cap, wouldn’t Idris Elba be a great Luke Cage? I’m sure he’ll be great as Heimdall (his natural accent is very eloquent, which will play well with whatever version of Thor-speak they go w/ for this), but I’d love to see Cage played by someone who fits the size-bill and has acting chops (unlike certain Tyreses I know… May-HEM!) and seeing Stringer get a starring role that I’d want to see would be cool (unlike certain movies co-starring Beyonce and the blonde from Heroes).
I actually think they nailed the Volstagg role. If you saw Ray Stevenson in Rome then you would be totally on board with him playing Volstagg. He’s all about living in the moment and enjoys the revels of life. When they’d announced the actors but not the parts they were playing I guessed Stevenson would be Volstagg. It just works. Trust me.
I was more excited for Brian Blessed as Odin, but this still sounds/looks great.
I haven’t seen Brian Blessed in anything for a long time, but his Voltan made me a fan for life. Twenty-five years ago he would have been the PERFECT Volstagg. Kirby’s run on Thor are my favorite Marvel comics of all time, the cast looks terrific (I’d forsake Asgard for Natalie Portman any day of the week) and Branagh’s work is almost always inspired. I’m really looking forward to this film.
Asano? WEIRD choice — watch "Ichi The Killer" to see why.
@Todd – Word. He was also amazing in Black Adder as King Richard IV. That’s what made me think he’d make a good viking god-king.
@William – I haven’t watched Ichi because I had the opening credits described to me. Asano was pretty awesome in Mongol though, and it makes sense of his Hogun casting.
I think helmsworth is a perfect casting for thor. Hopefully he grows his hair. I cant wait to see what he looks like as Thor. I havent been this excited since i wait for heath ledger’s joker to be photographed.
if they didn’t want to cast kevin McKidd as Thor; why not cast him as Balder?! he was great on journeyMan. and i hear equally so on Rome.
waitasec…this casting news is interesting but what is up with that image of Loki sporting the Cloak of Levitation AND the Eye of Agamotto?! When did he get his grubby little paws on these fine accessories?
I know it’s politically incorrect to object to color blind casting, but these are the Norse gods, not the Egyptian gods or Japanese gods. The average Viking had never seen anyone who was not white and would have difficulty conceiving of such a person. Do the filmmakers think that most of the audience won’t know who the Norse gods are, anyway? Seeing non-whites as Norse gods is going to damage the suspension of disbelief, so the story and visuals better be good enough to draw us back into the film.
The Warriors Three are not from Norse mythology. They were created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee and Hogun was always of some sort of Asian descent. This isn’t a Norse Mythology movie, it’s a Marvel Comics movie.
@reg5000
I was being facetious. I don’t have any problems w/ the casting and only make the comment in response to those who have a problem w/ characters that are normally portrayed one way are being done so another (especially those who complain about their favorite WASP-y looking characters being made otherwise).
I don’t know enought about Thor and with the exception of him. Loki and Odin, I have no clue who any of these characters are.
Still doesn’t make me any less excited!!
Very pleased to see Idris Elba cast. But still not completely sure about Ken Branagh as the director, outside of his Shakespeare stuff I think he’s a little iffy as a director. But I’ll stay positive and hope for something good.
I think it’s great that they cast a relative unknown actor as Thor, he has had some roles in popular movies but Hemsworths image is still relatively "pure" in the sense that when we see him he can more fully be Thor on the screen and not have his presence bogged down by previous roles. I hope they do the same thing for Capt America, and when I talk about casting super hero roles I always think of how iconic Christoper Reeves was as Superman and how his image was a blank slate that we were all able to imprint the image and spirit of Superman on
For the exception of Hopkins Portman Elba and Steveson the majority of the cast