Thor, or The Mighty Thor if you will, made his debut in the pages of Marvel Comics in 1962’s Journey Into Mystery. A muscular man-hero based on the god of Norse legend, Thor had his own awesome weapon (hammer Mjolnir), a red cape to challenge Superman’s, wings on his helmet and a take-charge attitude.
Stan Lee came up with the concept after searching for a hero who wasn’t just a human with super powers. "How do you make someone stronger than the strongest person?” he posited. “It finally came to me: Don't make him human - make him a god.”
By 1966, Journey Into Mystery had been retitled Thor, and the Thorverse was beginning to take shape. Thor, a tempestuous boy who needs to learn humility, is cast out of Asgard by his father (and king) Odin. On Earth, he lands in the disabled body of med student Donald Blake. Meanwhile, brother Loki attempts to destroy Thor once and for all.
“I definitely had a passion for Thor,” Branagh reveals. “I didn’t have a huge history with the comic books, but I loved what this story represented.
“I loved its epic scale, the colour, the grandeur of it, the fact that it travelled across space, all the vivid contrasts in the runs of the comics, and the blood and guts of it. And, paradoxically, there is a great human story at the centre of a story about Gods.” Time for a movie, then...
« Previous 3 of 11 Next »
© Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath BA1 2BW. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.
Try This...
Latest Reviews
The Company You Keep
Populaire
Blood
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 :)
Alert a moderator
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
Alert a moderator
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.
Alert a moderator
lolaarcana
May 2nd 2011, 19:35
I loved this film, it was completely entertaining and perfectly cast. I thought Loki stole the show!
Alert a moderator
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.
Alert a moderator