Branagh, of course, really wasn’t first on Hollywood's list to direct Thor. That honour instead went to Sam Raimi, who met with Stan Lee and 20th Century Fox with a pitch in the early 1990s. Sadly, it was a pitch so bonkers that neither understood quite what Raimi was trying to do with Thor.
It wasn’t until September 2008 that Kenneth Branagh signed on to direct the adap – after David S. Goyer, Matthew Vaughn and D.J. Caruso all considered then bailed on the project.
“What’s exciting is that Kevin and Marvel are so determined that we have to deliver spectacle,” Branagh enthused, “not only in the execution of visual effects, but also in the concept of visual effects, really trying to push the envelope, every time.”
At the tail end of 2008, Branagh was still being guarded about just who he’d be casting in the titular role. “There’s been lots of talk - I sound like a politician - but we are too early at this stage,” he said.
“We’re getting the story and the visual effects together and all of that is very exciting. Someone sensational is going to play the part but it is early days.” In May 2009, relative unknown Aussie actor Chris Hemsworth bagged the role...
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Comments
elgar7
Apr 27th 2011, 7:49
Such a good film, saw this with my girl friend and she loved it. As pointed out in the feature there are really subtle reference's to Shakespeare (particular Henry V I believe?) and that was brilliant step for the characters. Yes it was camp and cheesy (particularly in the town at the end) but heck they recognised it was and made the film purposefully humorous to correlate with this. I give it four stars :)
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Hadouken76
Apr 27th 2011, 14:12
Thats a relief , most of the reviews I've read have been positive. A stroke of genius from Marvel producers to hire Branagh and not hacks-for-hire Mark Steven Johnson and Len (not-so) Wiseman
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yawaramin
Apr 29th 2011, 5:14
A little nitpick: on page 8 (God of Gods), Odin shouldn't be King of the `Asgards', but either king of the Aesir (which is what the Asgardian race is called) or just King of Asgard.
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lolaarcana
May 2nd 2011, 19:35
I loved this film, it was completely entertaining and perfectly cast. I thought Loki stole the show!
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Morituri
May 9th 2011, 21:33
Thor was always my favorite american comic and I waited patiently for Hollywood to give it the treatment it deserved. I was rather unsure about Kenneth Branagh directing this as I never rated him as a director, expecially after his Frankenstein, beautiful looking but flawed and boring treatment. To my delighted I was blown away by a great great piece of entertainment. The whole film was perfectly cast, expecially Thor. I can see now the decision to give Branagh the helm was a brave risk but it worked perfectly, I guess due to the combination of Branagh shakespearean skills and the tight framework of a hollywood studio. I look forward to a sequel.
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