The Official MovieSet Blog
Kenneth Branagh is so Thor
Monday, September 29, 2008
If this next bit of news isn’t the final proof that you need to convince yourself Hollywood is mining the art house talent pool to make summer blockbusters, nothing will. According to Variety none other than Kenneth Branagh is in talks to direct a live-action movie of Thor, the Marvel Comics superhero who also happens to be the Norse god of thunder. At first glance Branagh seems an unusual choice to get to make a superhero movie, but now that I’ve digested the news it actually makes a weird kind of sense to me.
Consider this: Branagh leapt into the spotlight by being this young genius talent, directing a favorable version of Henry V while also playing the central character. He’s been classically trained in Shakespeare and he’s had proven success in bringing the bard’s works to mainstream audiences. Marvel’s Thor may be full of Norse gods and goddesses fighting as well as trolls, frost giants and sea monsters but all of the characters speak in dialog that can definitely be called Shakespeare-like, with all those “Verily”s and so on. So besides all of the CGI monsters and fights, what a movie like Thor needs is believability with its characters. Thor and his posse can’t talk like the average person on the street but they need to be able to relate to the masses. Branagh can deliver that, which is precisely why his choice as director makes a whole lotta sense.
Marvel wants this movie in theaters sometime in 2010 and they will have to cast the picture up reasonably soon as well as announce which studio will distribute it. Now that Branagh is onboard his rolodex of Shakespearian friends may start getting a serious usage. Kenneth, here’s my advice: Brian Blessed would make an awesome Odin. Give the man a call!
Posted at 6:22PM by admin
