'Thor’ Movie Updates!

Source: DarkHorizons
According to Bleeding Cool website, Brian Blessed has been cast as Thor’s father Odin. Blessed, having starred in everything from films (”Flash Gordon,” “Alexander,” “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves”), to plays (”Cats,” “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”) to sitcoms (”Blackadder”) to acclaimed drama (”I, Claudius”, “War and Remembrance”), the British actor turned adventurer with the unique booming voice and room-filling performances seems perfect for the role. Blessed and “Thor” director Kenneth Branagh have previously worked together on four of the five Shakespeare-based films Branagh has directed.

Meanwhile actor Tom Hiddleston, who is set to play Loki in the film, talked with The Daily Mail recently about the role and says he has to stay thin in time for filming in January as “(Director) Kenneth (Branagh) wants Loki to have a lean and hungry look, like Cassius in Julius Caesar. Physically, he can’t be posing as Thor.”

Hiddleston says his character is “like a comic book version of Edmund in King Lear, but nastier. Loki’s skilled in black magic and sorcery. He’s a shape-shifter and has all sorts of super powers from the dark arts. He can turn clouds into dragons, things like that.”

Co-writer Ashley Miller talked with Cinefools this week who said that Walt Simonson’s take on the character played a big part in informing the script’s story. Miller also went into detail about the use of godly powers - “Thor’s powers are godly, yes. And his zip code is a little different. But at the end of the day, he’s a man. In the comics, Odin sends him to Earth because he’s not perfect. He’s brash, arrogant. Even over-confident…he’s incredibly strong. He can fly. He tosses lightning bolts. There’s nothing realistic about any of that. But he also bleeds. He struggles. Life kicks him where it hurts the most.”