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Well, the article does say “unofficially confirmed”, whatever that means. Still, I think it’s a good fit and I look forward to official confirmation.

I don’t really think it’s so “wow” to drop out of directing Jude Law in Hamlet in favor of Thor. It makes a lot of sense actually. Subject matter is regal enough to make a respectable picture out of. Jude Law is pretty much box office poison despite his fame, so it would probably have flopped, and Hamlet’s been done to death anyhow. Marvel pics are hot now thanks to Iron Man and this movie will directly tie in to Iron Man somehow thanks to the shared movie universe deal, so he’d be dumb to choose Jude Law’s Hamlet over this.

A play production of Hamlet, not a film.

And the “wow” is due to the confirmation of Branagh actually directing Thor.

Brannagh has already done Hamlet as a film starring himself anyway, so I imagine the opportunity to direct Thor instead is something more challenging (and lucrative) than directing something he has already done, and done well at that. Although directing Jude Law on stage I’m sure would have its own set of challenges.

I’m really excited to see Branagh’s Thor. Totally epic.

And the “wow” is due to the confirmation of Branagh actually directing Thor.

Oh. Why exactly?

What kind of Thor story could the movie tell? His origin? Then what? Surely he won’t fight the Stone Men of Saturn.

Why the hell not?

I’m sorry, that was too confrontational. But he ought to fight the Stone Men of Saturn, I think, even if I just heard of them from your post.

I hope that whatever they do in the Thor film, they:

a) keep it cosmic

b) set it up so that the subsequent movies can get to the Simonson/Surtur Saga type stuff ASAP

I hope we get Skurge.

my trepidation is how do you transition smoothly from what is obviously going for a high-brow, high-concept solo film to “the avengers”? if they give branagh creative free-reign on the solo (and they should…) it’s going to be rather epic and “classical” feeling. i don’t see a good way for them to make the two concepts meld unless branagh is also going to do “the avengers”, or at least an active participant therein.

of course, this is all MAJOR speculation, but that’s just my gut reaction.

I hope it’s as groin-grabbingly awesome as “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein”

The big question for me is does this mean Branagh will play Donald Blake and HHH is Thor because that might be the suckiest thing in the history of suck.

Wouldn’t it be funny to see the movie version of Thor turning into a frog, Simonson-style?

Have you seen Henry V? If Branagh can bring that sense of “YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!” to the piece, I’m all in. And you know he can direct a serious period piece and bring it grandeur, which I’m guessing this will be; all Asgard, all the time. Now if they can just bring Simonson in as a creative consultant, that would truly rock.

I think the movie will have to deal with Thor’s origin and Asgard but will also have to deal with Thor on Earth, since he’s going to be part of the Avengers later on. Perhaps a blending of Thor’s origin and his current series? Loki could banish all the gods from Asgard with a spell, trapping them in human forms on Earth and making them forget their godhood. Donald Blake somehow find his cane, becomes Thor, free some of the other gods from human form and goes forth to kick Loki’s tail in Asgard.

I think that given the kind of material & what they want to do, it’s a good choice BUtT more importantly, it gives the Thor project a nice media exposition & the kind of expectation Marvel clearly anted for this project.

Like I said in a previous post, I find Marvel choices so far pretty clever.

You always have talented artists who are lacking some success at the time & wouldn’t be against a good blockbuster exposition, so they make prey of choice for Marvel ( Downey Jr, Howard & now Cheadle, Paltrow, Norton….)

I’d say that this isn’t a good fit, but just about every good superhero movie was directed by someone who didn’t seem appropriate on paper.

According to what I’ve read “Thor” will take place entirely in Asgard in acient times. Unless they’ve made changes to the script there will be no Donald Blake or modern NY in the movie. But that was before the plan before the ‘Avengers’ movie was formed. Who knows what will happen now?

I wouldn’t mind a bit of the Ultimate Thor angle, where everybody thinks he’s crazy……”He thinks he’s a Norse God!”