Thursday
19Feb2009
'Thor' Still Looking For Its Thor
Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 3:58PM
I'm sure I haven't been the lone voice of criticism when it comes to Marvel's Avengers cycle, but I know I've been a consistent one. My problem with
The Avengers in general is that the studio believes if we see all the heroes individually, that'll mean an avalanche of support for the battle royale scheduled for 2011.
"Male MUST BE MID-LATE 20'S and SIX FEET OR TALLER. LEAD." "Physically powerful, very handsome, occasionally egotistical, petulant, and wild. A natural warrior with a quick charming wit who must be genuinely and severely humbled before becoming the compassionate, mature hero of our film."With the way Marvel casts its heroes these days, they want an actor with extreme skills. Assuming the above casting call is legit (and the leaked sides for Iron Man 2 turned out to be real a few months ago), can you think of somebody who fits physically, and can pull a great performance?
Reader Comments (14)
Ok, a long time ago I mentioned an actor for the Capt America role, and it got an uproar because he wasn't American, blah blah blah. But this guy would actually be better for Thor now that I think about it. Two words:
Alexander Skarsgård
He certainly looks the part. I confess I'm not familiar with his work, but I doubt Marvel would want to go overseas to find somebody. He'd win the costume contest every year, though. 6'4", blond, big...yep, that's Thor, all right.
I think Triple H from WWE would be perfect for the role he is in shape, looks the part, and is used to yielding a sledgehammer.
I have always thought Triple H was the perfect guy for the part, and then Marvel decided it wanted to get incredibly legitimate actors for these roles. If it was the pre-X-Men days, there'd be no hesitation; it would be Triple H. But now they want some of the best actors alive.
On a related note, I wanted The Rock to play Superman, and everybody laughed at me.
Alexander Skarsgård is the son of Stellan Skarsgård. I know people are more familiar with him.
But Alexander Skarsgård I thought did gave an underrated performance in HBO's Generation Kill and deserves an Emmy or Golden Globe nomination for his role. He is also currently in HBO's newer show True Blood.
And his introduction to the rest of the world should be with THOR.
I just don't see this working at all now. There for awhile it sounded promising, with Kevin McKidd being rumored as Thor ( if any of you watched Rome you know he would be perfect for this). I just don't see a guy in his 20's pulling this role off.
Skarsgard is a good actor, but he's too small. Apparently their looking for "very handsome" as well. So I guess they want to turn Thor into a big sissy. The movie smells of failure.
Skarsgård is substantially taller than Kevin McKidd, and looks broader, as well.
What about Gerard Butler or Clive Owen? Both of them could pull Thor off easily if they just work on the hairdo. I don't think they need to have a 20's something actor...in fact, a veteran actor of Butler or Owen's stature would help carry the picture.
^^ LOL, I don't see it.
I agree Alexander Skarsgård could do it. If they decide to NOT go for "young 20s" though like they're thinking of, why not Vladimir Kulich. He's 6'5, an excellent actor, and is in generally larger and more physically powerful person that Skarsgard is.
I think a lot of these are reaches. Thor will struggle to be a hit anyway. Marvel's not going to put it in the hands of Vladimir Kulich. Butler and Owen - well, Butler, anyway - would give the film more bankability, but they're way too old for the role. I mean, this isn't Conan.
Marvel has very specific plans for this entire Avengers arc, and having a Thor movie nobody pays attention to isn't what the company wants. They need a star here more than anywhere else, I think.
Triple H looks the part sure, but I don't want to watch two hours of him stumbling over the shakespearian dialogue. The fact of the matter is, there really aren't any actors out there with the physicality and ability to deliver dialogue necessary for Thor (except maybe Lundgren back in the day...). I don't think star power will sell this movie as much as spectacle will. The whole thing is -allegedly-going to take place in Asgard. Casting an unknown in this part is probably the smartest most cost-effective thing marvel can do for this movie. Branaugh can't be too cheap and SFX are gonna bulk up the budget exponentially. Saving money on an unknown will not only help this film, but help the whole Avengers project in the long run (I mean can Marvel really afford any more big names in that movie?). If they're gonna cast a wrestler in this movie he should play a smaller part based on his look and physical ability (The Executioner for instance), and if they want a star in the movie (like the much rumored Brad Pitt favorite) then they should be cast as Loki, who I'd imagine will be the antagonist for this project.
Skarsgard for Asgard!
Yeah he's 32 but look younger. 6´5, blond Scandinavian. To the people that say he's not bulky enough: just look at Prince of Donnie Persia. Hollywood has some great pharmacies for that!
someone posted that skarsgard is too small????? he's 6'4" for pete's sake. lol.