Thor Soon to Thunder into Theaters!

All right, I'll admit it. I am a sucker for good comic book movies.

Some film-goers might be tired of the Marvel/D.C. invasion into Hollywood, but I am perfectly happy with it. I am especially excited about the upcoming movie Thor, starring Chris Hemsworth in the title role.

The movie also stars Natalie Portman--Have you SEEN her in Black Swan? Frickin' Amazing!--and one of my all-time favorite actors, Sir Anthony Hopkins.

Looking forward to this flick, which I hope is as good as the preview makes it seem, I did a little research to try to find out why comic creator Stan Lee chose Thor, of all gods and goddesses in the world, for his super-hero universe. Turns out, he was trying to one-up himself and create someone stronger than his character The Incredible Hulk.

I found this quote on www.comicbookmovie.com:


"How do you make someone stronger than the strongest person? It finally came to me: Don't make him human — make him a god. I decided readers were already pretty familiar with the Greek and Roman gods. It might be fun to delve into the old Norse legends... Besides, I pictured Norse gods looking like Vikings of old, with the flowing beards, horned helmets, and battle clubs. ...Journey into Mystery needed a shot in the arm, so I picked Thor ... to headline the book. After writing an outline depicting the story and the characters I had in mind, I asked my brother, Larry, to write the script because I didn't have time. ...and it was only natural for me to assign the penciling to Jack Kirby..."


The original Thor from Norse mythology, as many of you know, is of course the famed god of thunder. The son of "All-Father" Odin, Thor is the strongest of the principle race of Norse gods. He's the protector of both realms, mortal and immortal, and if you mess with him, he'll make you really wish you hadn't.

Norse god Thor became more popular than his father, Odin, because he, unlike dear ol' Dad, did not require human sacrifices. This would've been a perk, especially for those on the sacrificial waiting list.

The day of the week "Thursday" was actually named after Thor--how many of you knew that?

The movie's release date is May 6, 2011, which is a Friday... I wonder if they'd consider knocking it back a day in honor of the bearded deity? Maybe? Psst! Any Hollywood execs out there reading this? Move it back to May 5!




Oh, and just in case you haven't seen the trailer, be sure to click here to check it out.


As far as comic book adaptations go, do you think this one will be a good one?

What famous mythological deity would you like to see in comic book and/or movie form?