May 16, 2009 | by Carl Lee 

Marvel’s Thor is Chris Hemsworth

chris-hemsworth-thor

Courtesy of a Nikki Finke exclusive, it seems Marvel has its Thor. Just days after Kenneth Branagh talked about Thor casting delays, the word is Chris Hemsworth will wield the mighty Mjolnir. That’s right, Captain Kirk’s dad in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot is now Marvel’s God of Thunder.

Hemsworth has had a whirlwind of a month: he was captain of a starship for 12 minutes just last week, cast as the lead in Red Dawn on Thursday, and the 25-year-old Aussie was doing an Australian TV series just last November. After 171 episodes of being “Kim Hyde” on Home and Away, he’s getting his big break with Thor -  but it took two reads for him to be chosen as Odin’s son.

Finke reports Hemsworth had read for the part before but “wasn’t given a test because a casting director had nixed him early on.” Apparently his younger brother tested for the role too, but Marvel passed. William Ward, Hemsworth’s rep and partner/founder at ROAR Management, then convinced Marvel’s executive Kevin Feige to reconsider. They let Hemsworth read again and it sure sounded like director Kenneth Branagh had a choice in mind 3 days ago, but the final decision was made today.

With Asgard as the stage, Hemsworth better brush up on his Olde English and bulk-up his body, because Thor’s winged helmet isn’t anything like that feather-weight uniform handed out by the United Federation. Marvel bringing Branagh on to helm Thor was pretty ballsy, but casting a relative-unknown to be the Norse God? Marvel might have hit it’s 2011 blockbuster hat trick.

Thor is scheduled to begin production next January with a May 20, 2011 release.

The announcement of Chris Hemsworth puts to rest months and months of speculation about who would play Thor. Do you think Hemsworth can handle the magic hammer?

Source: Nikki Finke

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  • Devyn
    i honestly think this guy is going to pull off thor perfectly. he has a deep thor-like voice, and he looks just like him. i'm super excited to see the final product.
  • ironbatman
    That´s a ver bad choice in my humble opinion! He doesn´t have the Muscle Mass for the role as Thor (maybe if he takes a MEGA COCKTAIL OF "JUICES" he could be him), Thor is a Escandinavian guy. more like a Viking, so that role maybe be fit for Ralph Moeller or someone like him or at least Triple H!...But that guy!!...Definitely NOT!!
  • Ken J
    @David

    Keep in mind that they actually want to move away from all of the more supernatural stuff like "gods" and they super powers you see in comic books. They want to keep it somewhat believable. The way they explained Thor is that his powers are actually not supernatural, they actually will be based on science, just science more advanced than we can understand.

    So a true to the comic book Thor as a god thing will not really happen on the big screen according to the current marvel movie universe they've been building with Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk... He'll simply have god-LIKE powers but they'll actually have a [fake] scientific explanations behind them...

    So the character can't be all unbelievable, tall and ripped, yes, but comic book character level unbelievably huge, no. Hemsworth has the height and the voice down, he just needs to be a little more ripped and he will do the part justice in my opinion.

    And now with Ray Stevenson on the ticket, he'll actually have some competition in terms of who's the "big guy" on the set, lol.
  • David
    Superman, Batman, Ironman, and Bruce Banner (not the Hulk)are all supposed to be normal looking. At least enough to fit into society without drawing too much attention. Thor on the other hand is a god. He doesn't really fit in. He's supposed to be really impressive looking. He's the marvel version of Superman (power, not popularity). He's the only one of the Avengers with a twinkee's chance at fat camp of beating the Hulk. I don't know if this guy will really work. But since I can't think of anyone with the right look who can pull off the acting I guess I'll just wait and see.
  • Borzag
    Just read the Captain America article that says Alex Skar might be the Cap... they got it round the wrong way. Big american dude for Cap, big swedish dude for Thor.

    Is that too difficult for some people? Apparently so...
  • Ken J
    @Tweeb

    Actually, seeing Megan Fox in any movie I'm watching makes me nervous because it's a sign that it will suck...
  • NOTRouth
    TOO YOUNG... TOO AMERICAN.

    Thor with him as lead would be a joke.
  • Tweeb
    I am really looking forward to this movie but Thor has to be big, strong and a good actor. and cute (hey...don't look at my post like that. You guys have Megan Fox). I want to sit in my seat and drool. Sorry but this guy doesn't do it for me.

    @ Ironman2you- who would you pick?
  • Ken J
    Some people would rather have someone who just looks good for the part than someone who can act the part. Unfortunately this isn't a calendar photo shoot, it's a movie, where we see and hear their acting...
  • Mark
    Its called acting, if he can act the part its all good. On the looks, just let him bulk up more, grow and die his hair blond, and he's already freaken 6,3. Just give the guy a chance. What I'm worrying about is the plot plus the director does not seem he has directed any big big movies yet. However, I think its gonna be good cause they on a role with Ironman and the hulk so far.
  • Ironman2You
    What on Asgard?! Tell me this isn't so! On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best), I give this guy a 1.5! NO to the Nth power! Why choose him? Because he kinda has a Thor-like appearance? Thor is a god and a tough rugged, ripped one at that! Isn't anyone looking at the big picture here? The finale? The AVENGERS? I do not see the continuity within. Especially with this actor. Somebody slap me and tell me I am dreaming...I cannot believe that so many are actually accepting this choice. I just don't see it...AT ALL! Since when did Thor become a babe? We need an attitude provoking, fear instilling, hunk of scare the sense out-of-you THOR! Maybe it's just me. Maybe. I cannot see this guy next to Captain America, or Iron Man for that matter, and being overpowering. As Thor SHOULD BE. HAS TO BE. Wake me up when it's over. As a looong time Avengers collector and true fanboy, I am uncertain as to how this is going to work out. Now, I want the BEST Avengers movie possible, and I don't think this guy cuts it. There is a screw loose somewhere. I will check mine and make another judgement over time...for now....UGH! Avengers Assemble! ~please? I better start believing in this "movie-magic" mentality. Do I hear anyone else screaming HELP?
  • Matt Keith
    Besides that Triple H isn't even an actor...hes a wrestler and should stick to wrestling leave the acting roles to ACTORS.
  • Ken J
    Yah mal0, unfortunately they got someone who might know how to act instead, dag nabbit...
  • mal0
    i thot triple HHH would be best as thor
  • Mikeyboy
    Baby face. He has a baby face. I don't like it. Punch it.
  • whyskinnysuperheros
    wow, what's with all the cardio geeks being cast as superhero's these days. I know chicks in my gym with bigger guns than this guy, and he's supposed to be a god? I think they really missed the boat on this. I hear they are trying to do a Conan remake, they are considering Sasha Baron Cohen for the lead… or maybe George Clooney, I heard his guns are beefed up to a whopping 14 inches. That clearly meets their criteria for physical presence of a superhero. Or they can do what they did for batman (Christian Bale) and spiderman. Draw the crowds by having the actors get in incredible shape for the first movie, and then let them be pathetically skinny (Christian Bale) or soft (Toby Maguire) for the sequils.
  • Hey gang,

    Keep an eye out - I'm not sure when exactly but we have a SWEET Thor giveaway coming soon.

    Hints: Very limited edition, value over $200.

    :-)

    Vic
  • tasouli
    I agree this Thor is very small in mass but I think that he will come out just fine...to have a thor like the one in the comics would mean that we would have to use cgi most likely or cast a wwe wrestler who cant act. If production starts in January the guy has plenty of time to bulk up; and im a gym guy with the proper supplemnts, diet, and work out you can add 30-40 pds of muscle mass in 6 months...im sure they will ahving hit the gym up hard to get more pumped for the role....I DO liek teh choice, I thought he did a good job in what time he had in Star Trek and I could see this panning out for him...as for the movie, I am not all taht excited, so what its thor who cares...im sure ill see it and if teh movie ends up being good enough maybe i will start to care tahn but as of now im just bla on this whole project
  • vince
    According to IMDB he's 6 foot 3, so pretty tall!
  • Ken J
    Yah wadepool, unfortunately we got someone who might actually know how to act, oh well.
  • Carlton
    Chris is a gym rat, I think that he will do just fine.
  • wadepool
    I wanted a realy tuff guy like a blond wrestler (the Rock did it) possibly from normandy ah well
  • For a while, people have been suggesting Triple H. He had a viking-like photo shoot that didn't help matters but that's all past us now. I just hope Hemsworth can get to a believable bulk because Thor is huge.

    Remember how up-in-arms most when Brandon Routh donned the red cape? I fear the same thing for the God of Thunder.
  • Ken J
    Give him time, he has almost a year before filming starts to bulk up. He has the face, voice, and height for the part. I saw Star Trek again, and one of the things I made sure I focused on was how tall he was, and holy crap this guy is huge... I never realized before but when you see him walking next to the previous Cpt. of the USS Kelvin, he TOWERS over him... Unless that guy was just short, but I don't think he was THAT short...
  • Erick Fink
    no problem, i agree that people want the person playing the character over the overall outcome of the film. but, that is what happens when people have the notions of a wrestlers body being the best thing there is.
  • Ken J
    Ok, sorry, I jumped the gun, there have been so many people suggesting wrestlers for Thor in so many forums, I read up to the part where you mention Triple H and didn't read the rest, sorry dude, lol.
  • Erick Fink
    @Marshall, I know that last comment is referring to this pick for Thor, but just speaking about RDJ, after seeing him as Tony Stark, it’s hard to imagine anyone being better for the role…
    (an earlier quote from Ken J.)

    couldn't agree more.
  • Erick Fink
    no man, you've got it all wrong, i hate wrestlers all together, even more in films. but, i merely suggested an unknown actor, (up-and-coming), with a body to play the part.
  • Ken J
    Oh god, here we go. So you're another one that thinks we should sacrifice acting for bulk. Yah, maybe pro wrestlers should play EVERY comic book character and we won't need to worry about the movie actually being good or anything, maybe they'll start doing wrestling moves to the villain half way through the movie...
  • Erick Fink
    no, i meant that Chris is just too small to portray such a huge character. They could find someone a little bigger in mass, i think that Triple H would be the perfect idea of the kind of mass to be Thor, but, Triple H is one of the worst actors/wrestlers I have ever seen.
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