Jessica Biel may be in Thor. Clifton Collins Jr won't.

Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston and Brian Blessed are cast as Thor, Loki and Odin, but who elso will be in Kenneth Branagh's adaption of the Marvel comic?

Clifton Collins Jr. isn't. He mentioned a while back that he was meeting with the Thor people, but he didn't mention for what role. He told The Dead Bolt this week that he's no longer a part of the project.

"That was a long time ago. I wasn't really getting into it, I was just preparing stuff. It's a fantastic director, a great piece, but I have absolutely nothing to do with it."

Meanwhile Jessica Biel is now being rumored to be playing a female character and love interest to the titular hero in the project according to Nuke the Fridge.

The site's source also says the role is likely to be that of Amora The Enchantress , however it could be theAsgardian warrior Sif. Still no word on what role Natalie Portman or Josh Hartnett may be playing.

Do you want to see Biel in Thor? What character do you think she will be playing?

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Gordon's Alive? Brian Blessed may play Odin in Thor

I am really looking forward to Kenneth Branagh's adaption of Marvel's Thor. Now this news has got me even more excited.

Rich Johnston over on Bleeding Cool had this to say:

I understand that British actor Brian Blessed has been cast in Kenneth Branagh’s THOR movie, based on the Marvel Comics title, as the character Odin.

Blessed is best known for his roles as Caesar Augustus in I CLAUDIUS and King Of The Hawk Men in FLASH GORDON as well as being a charity campaigner and mountaineer.

He has appeared in a number of Kenneth Branagh productions, including HAMLET and AS YOU LIKE IT, famed for his booming voice.

I still haven't found any official confirmation on this, however he apparantly confirmed it at a recent public appearance in York. I will keep looking for official confirmation on this, so at the moment count it as a rumour.
The fact that Branagh as previously worked makes even more sense as he has also worked with Tom Hiddleston who was recently cast as Loki. Chris Hemsworth is Thor. Now we just need to find out what characters Natalie Portman and Josh Hartnett are playing.

I personally think this is a brilliant piece of casting and hopefully it is true.

How would you feel with Brian Blessed as Odin?

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Tom Hiddleston cast as Loki in Branagh's Thor

I almost had this right. On the 4th May I mentioned how Tom Hiddleston, the co-star in Kenneth Branagh's Wallander series, could possibly be Thor.

This turned out to be incorrect when it was announced yesterday that Chris Hemsworth (George Kirk in Star Trek) had been cast as Thor in Kenneth Branagh’s big screen adaptation of Marvel’s Thor and the Summer 2012 superhero team-up film The Avengers.

However, Nikki Finke are now saying that Tom will be playing the evil Loki, the God of Mischief.

I was half right. Hiddleston is in the film, but playing the big bad. As I mentioned when Hemsworth was announced, I like the fact they are not using big names for this film. To the mainstream audience, Marvel's Thor is a bit of an unknown quanitity and you want the characters to prove their worth rather than be overshadowed by the actor playing them.

Also Hiddleston does have a look of Loki about him in some photos.

Robert Downey Jr worked so well as Tony Stark in Iron Man because Stark is a huge larger than life playboy kind of character.

It does make me wonder whether Josh Hartnett will still be in the film as he had previously been rumoured to play Loki, as had Natalie Portman. Maybe Hartnett will be playing another Asgardian - one of the Warriors Three?

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Could Thor be an acting buddy of Kenneth Branagh's?

Kenneth Branagh has been speaking to IGN about the Thor movie’s development. Filming will begin in January of next year.

The gap in time between now and January means that Branagh can work on his TV series “Wallander,” based on the Henning Mankell series of novels about an existentialist police inspector. Branagh plays the titular Wallander alongside Tom Hiddleston, an actor who may or may not be donning the winged helmet for Marvel’s “Thor.”

“Tom Hiddleston is a great actor and he, amongst a number of others, has been part of the group we’ve spoken to and all that’s still a work in progress,” Branagh said of his “Wallander” co-star’s chances of playing Thor.

Other contenders to play the Norse God of Thunder have been Alexander Skarsgård, Charlie Hunnam, Kevin McKidd and Josh Hartnett. However, Josh was mooted to be playing Loki (but that could possibly be being played by Natalie Portman).

I've not seen Wallender so not sure what Hiddleston is like and whether he would be good as Thor. He doesn't seem physically big enough to play him, but I could see him as Dr Blake, Thor's alter ego. Personally, I'd like to see McKidd play Thor as he just has the right look.

What do you feel about the possibility of Hiddleston playing Thor? If not him who would you want to see?

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UPDATED: Natalie Portman may be the female lead in Thor - Could she be Loki?

There has been quite a bit of movement recently on the Marvel Studios' Thor film. It is being directed by Kenneth Branagh but the recent news has been on who will play Thor. S

Nikki Finke has posted a few names who have tested for the part of Thor and / or Loki.Josh Hartnett was rumoured to play the big bad Loki, but what if he was also testing for Thor? I don't think he has got the charisma needed to carry off the part of the Thunder God, neither does he have the slyness needed for Loki. Although his turn on stage as Iago in Othello is meant to be the reason why Branagh spoke to him. If that is the case then Iago and Loki have pretty much the same relationship with the respective leads.

Nikki then goes on to list other, lesser known actors, who have tested for the lead role - Charlie Hunnam (the British co-star of the F/X series Sons Of Anarchy); Tom Hiddleston (award-winning British actor and RADA graduate who played Winston Churchill's son in HBO's The Gathering Storm), Alexandar Skarsgard (Stellan's son who has appeared in the HBO Iraq War miniseries Generation Kill and vampire drama True Blood, and who's definitely visually right for the role), Liam Hemsworth (offered a significant role in The Expendables after Sly Stallone saw his tape), and Joel Kinnaman (some Swedish-American dude).

That's all well and good about Thor, but there is a small part of the post that mentions Natalie Portman is in the lead for the female lead. In my mind this is a bit out of left field.

This Thor film is meant to follow the early years of Thor in Asgard so I assume Natalie, if she is cast, would be playing either Amora the Enchantress (who is one of Thor's rogues gallery) or Sif, Thor's wife (in the middle image above she certainly has Portman's look). The final option could possibly someone on Earth. Maybe Jane Foster, a nurse who helps Dr Donald Black (Thor's alter ego).

I personally think it will be the part of Sif (which could be a rebrand of Cif which was rebrand of Jif...damn you SyFy for confusing me), purely based on the fact the film will mainly be set in Asgard and Sif has dark hair. Not a precise reason but at least it is a reason.

Do you feel Natalie Portman will be good as the female lead in Thor? Out of the actors mentioned who would be the best Thor or is there someone not on the list who should play the part?

UPDATE: I totally forgot that in the recent Thor reboot, Loki had decided to take the form of a woman (in the picture on the left). Could Natalie Portman possibly be down to play the Trickster God?

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Favreau to direct The Avengers, Alexander and Stellan Skarsgard as Thor and Odin and news on Daredevil and The Fantastic Four

AICN have a source on the inside who has the following news about various Marvel films. I really like the fact that a father and son may be playing a father and son in Thor and Favreau directing The Avengers is great news. It will bring a lot of consistency into the big screen Marvel Universe. That also explains the recent shuffling around of the various release dates for the films. Fingers crossed that most of these things actually happen. Still not sure about Hartnett as Loki though.

-Avengers is delayed a year because of financing issues but also because the plan is for Favreau to helm it. Everybody here loves the guy and he wants to do it, but it would have been impossible for him to do before the date change given his Iron Man 2 commitments. Also partly the reason why he agreed to do the Stark sequel on such an accelerated schedule was so he could get given first dibs on this. It would still be a punishing schedule for him, so hes not firmly confirmed yet, but he is certainly the presumptive director at this point.

- Iron Man starts rehearsals in a few days, which is why the casting is finally coming together so quickly.

-Alexander Skargard is indeed Branagh’s favorite to play Thor as some sites are reporting. If all goes well and it happens then we hope to get Stellan Skarsgard for Odin (though at present Odin is only a very small cameo part in this movie).

-Loki will probably be played by Hartnett, if his pay negotiations work out. All the commentary about him wanting to do a Ledger and play a villain is B.S. though – WE APPROACHED HARTNETT because Branagh’s a big fan of the Othello adaptation O where Hartnett played Iago who is very similar character wise to how he sees Loki.

- Fox is serious about doing remakes of Daredevil and FF. They have to make new movies with these characters every few years because otherwise the options will revert to us. This point is kinda obvious but Im not sure people realise it –I haven't seen anybody pointing it out anywhere. The mood around here is pretty negative about Rothman’s potential to execute these properties properly, (Im sure you know why it might be particularly negative at the moment) but we are all hoping his recent promotion will mean hes kept away from direct control of these movies.

What are your thoughts on all that? Happy to hear Favreau could be directing The Avengers? Who would want to play Daredevil?

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Loki - Arch Nemesis of Thor could be Josh Hartnett.

Yesterday it was mentioned that Alexander Skarsgard could be cast as Thor. Now news is coming out about who might be playing the Thunder-god's evil half-brother, Loki.

According to IESB.net, Josh Hartnett is currently on the short list to take on the role of the god of mischief and evil.

This is all very much a rumour although Hartnett has met with director Kenneth Branagh and both parties are interested in seeing if they can make it work.

In the comics, and mythology, Loki is Thor's adopted brother, and is actually a diminutive Frost Giant. Loki fancies himself the God of Mischief, but ultimately becomes the God of Evil. He has been Thor's longest running foe throughout the comics, and in mythology is supposed to be one of the key forces behind Ragnarok.

I think this is a bad, bad, bad idea to have Josh Hartnett as Loki. I just don't feel that he has the acting chops to pull off the intelligent, twisted, ruthless, machiavellian character of Loki.

Up until this point I hadn't even thought about who would play the other characters in the Marvel Studios film. Not sure who would be a good choice to portray Loki, Odin or the Warriors Three. Ron Perlman as Odin could be cool.

Any thoughts on who could play Loki or do you feel Josh Hatnett do the part justice?

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