Thor - 2011

Marvel has a future Thor movie in development based on their comic book version of the character from ancient Norse Mythology. Marvel's future Thor movie has ascheduled release date of May 20th, 2011. The basic premise behind the Marvel version of the Thor character is that Dr. Donald Blake discovers that he is playing host to an incarnation of the ancient Norse deity Thor, and that he can summon the Norse God to this plain of existence whenever he should so choose. Here is a more official outline of the idea that the makers of the movie are going with:

Doctor Donald Blake has another side, that of the Norse God of Thunder Thor, punished by his father Odin and sent to live on Earth as a human with no recollection of his Godliness. Whenever Blake holds Thor's mythical hammer Mjöllnir he transforms into the muscular, blonde God. Through his travels, he battles his evil Brother Loki, Norse God of Mischief and feels compelled to protect the world he now inhabits, as a God among Men.

The original Marvel comic of Thor was co-created by Jack Kirby and stan Lee way back in the 60's and has been around in one incarnation or another ever since then. Like many other Marvel characters Thor has been marketed by Marvel in the past, with Thor merchandise showing up on anything from Thor posters to Thor lunch boxes and Thor action figures. there have even been versions of Thor boots, a Thor Helmet and a Thor Hammer available for hardcore fans of the Thor comics to buy. The upcoming movie version of the comic will be directed by British filmmaker Kenneth Branagh. So far the Thor movie cast has begun to be really fleshed out with the following roles confirmed by Marvel:

• Chris Hemsworth as Thor
• Natalie Portman as Jane foster
• Tom Hiddleston as Loki
• Brian Blessed as Odin

In addition, it is rumoured that Jessica Biel has been cast to play Lady Sif and that Samuel L. Jackson will be reprising his role of Nick Fury from the first Iron Man movie.

On a more personal note, I have to admit that at best I have been no more than an on again off again fan of the Marvel incarnation of the character of Thor. I have been familiar with the comic since my childhood but never stuck with it much until the most recent relaunch of the seriers by writer J. Michael Straczynski who has beencredited with breathing new life into the character and bringing more fans to the book. I don't have any strong feelings either way regarding whether or not this Marvel Thor movie will be a success. the choice of directors is interesting but the current casting has not affected me much yet either positively or negatively. If the upcoming Thor movie is a success, I expect it to be on a smaller scale and mostly as a step in the progression of Marvel movies that will all be leading up to the future Marvel Avengers movie in 2011. I expect that comic fans will feel compelled to see every movie that connects with the overall framework of a unified Marvel Universe that the company has been working towards ever since the release of its Iron Man movie in 2008.