Kenneth Branagh Talks Thor!

The Irish-born director of the upcoming Thor movie shares some thoughts and news on the project.

Branagh, who has a strong background in Shakespeare, is at once both an unlikely and brilliant choice for director on Thor. In a recent interview with the LA Times, Branagh talks about his plans for the film:

"Inspired by the comic book world both pictorially and compositionally at once, we’ve tried to find a way to make a virtue and a celebration of the distinction between the worlds that exist in the film but absolutely make them live in the same world. It’s about finding the framing style, the color palette, finding the texture and the amount of camera movement that helps celebrate and express the differences and the distinctions in those worlds. If it succeeds, it will mark this film as different…. The combination of the primitive and the sophisticated, the ancient and the modern, I think that potentially is the exciting fusion, the exciting tension in the film."

This is clearly not your typical superhero brawl flick. Is everything okay on the set, though? Recent rumors have reported that Anthony Hopkins, the 72 year old legendary actor that is playing the role of Odin, Thor’s father, has been displeased with the acting skills of star Chris Hemsworth. Hopkins, however, responds to those rumors:

“I am having the time of my life making Thor with Ken and Chris. They have made every day immensely fun and collaborative, and we’re all puzzled that someone would fabricate a story suggesting otherwise. I’m proud to say that Thor has been one of the great experiences of my career.”

In fact, according to Branagh, things are going quite well with the movie, which is about two thirds of the way through filming:

"It’s going very, very well. We’re in New Mexico now where we have a contemporary Earth part of our story. I guess we’re two-thirds of the way through the story and at this stage of the game what’s surprising and delighting me is the way the cast, the ensemble, has fused together. It’s kind of an interesting combination of very young and very experienced people and the double-up of that, it seems to me, is there is a lot of fire in the movie. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, it doesn’t try to be too solemn."

Meanwhile, Kevin Feige, head of Marvel Studios, confirmed that both Iron Man 2, which just finished production and is said to contain some great connections to the upcoming Captain America film, and Thor, will set the groundwork for the future of Marvel films: