On Monday, Stephanie Sanchez at IESB.net had a chance to speak with Daniel Craig in Beverly Hills for a Quantum of Solace press event.

Sanchez asked Craig if he would be up for trying something new and different in a character role such as Thor and he laughed it off. Sanchez then told him she had heard that Craig was on Marvel's shortlist to play Thor.

In response, Mr. Craig, Daniel Craig, revealed that Marvel indeed had already approached him for this role and he had turned it down. He jokingly clarified that it would be too much of a power trip playing both James Bond and the mighty Thor.

I guess I can understand that.

With future Bond movies, Thor, Avengers and other potential Marvel followups, Craig would be booked for a long time for huge blockbusters and the corresponding millions of press events. On the other side of that coin, it's a little crazy to hear someone turn a role like this down.

Marvel is looking for A-list actors to fulfill to roles of Thor and Captain America and Daniel Craig is certainly that. Although Craig is a tank physically and has the voice and presence, I can't see him sporting long blonde hair, a winged helmet and a big honkin' hammer (though you might not think that seeing the image above). Using movie magic, they'd also likely have to make him appear much bigger than he already is. Then again, I don't think there are any real people who can fill out Thor's physique.

I wonder who else is on that short list... It was rumored back in June that Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt were in the running for the lead roles of Captain America and Thor.

Do you think Craig could of pulled off the role of Thor? Who do you think Marvel should go after next? [UPDATE: Regular Screen Rant reader "The Old Man" thought it would be nice to give us a more "muscular" version of Craig so we could make a better decision. :-) ]

Thor will be directed by Kenneth Branagh and is due out July 16, 2010.

Source: IESB.net