Thor Trailer released

[SylasGaunt]

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810026342/video/23447610

All official like to so no worries about it getting yanked.

[General Zod]

I rather like what I've seen of the trailer so far. If it's anywhere close to as good as Iron Man I'll be bound to like it well enough.

[Batman]

Generally concurred. I would have liked to see Thor wearing the winged helmet, if only to agree that 'yes, okay, you're right, that looks patently silly on the silver screen', and I'd personally have liked for Mjolnir to have a longer handle but otherwise none too shabby.

[Tsyroc]

Generally concurred. I would have liked to see Thor wearing the winged helmet, if only to agree that 'yes, okay, you're right, that looks patently silly on the silver screen', and I'd personally have liked for Mjolnir to have a longer handle but otherwise none too shabby.

I thought there were a few brief scenes of him wearing a wing helmet. It wasn't the classic dome with giant wings but looked like some alternate versions the character has had.

[Batman]

I think there were two very brief takes showing a guy wielding the hammer (which pretty much means it was Thor) also wearing a winged helmet but in all the scenes where we could actually facially identify the guy, he was bare-headed.

[General Zod]

I think there were two very brief takes showing a guy wielding the hammer (which pretty much means it was Thor) also wearing a winged helmet but in all the scenes where we could actually facially identify the guy, he was bare-headed.

It's pretty clear to me that it's meant to be the same guy.

[Freefall]

Man, everything looks great except the hammer, which really sucks, because it's obviously going to be involved a lot. To me it looks like the biggest problem is the handle is just way too small. It looks like Thor could just barely fit both hands on the thing, and it is also either a little too thin, or the head is a little too fat (which I'm actually leaning towards; that's a friggin' huge head for a hammer of any kind, and makes it look kind of cartoony). There also doesn't seem to be any weight behind the thing when they swing it. Obviously Thor is supposed to be super strong and everything, but still, a seemingly weightless hammer doesn't feel very threatening.

But yeah, otherwise looks like they're doing a good job, which I was worried about because I always figured Thor would be one of the most difficult Marvel characters to translate to a movie for the masses, given the whole magical pagan god thing.

Anthony Hopkins looked pretty badass as Odin too. I hope he's in more than just the beginning.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Thor isn't SUPPOSED to hold onto his hammer with both hands. Mjolnir is designed to be thrown or swung in wide arcs, single-handed. Thor is almost never depicted in Norse myth as swinging it two-handed.

[Crazedwraith]

Looks pretty good. That opening bit with Coulson had a very Ultimate Thor vibe. But later bits with Asgard were more 616. Loved the 'ahh shiit' expression when Thor asks? "This is Earth isn't it?"

Still no matter how 616 they get him. I'm still hoping some bits from the Ultimates make an appearance in the Marvel Studios films. Like the bit where Banner and Fury try to recruit him. Or the scene where he smacks down the Hulk. They seemed very cinematic when I read The Ultimates.

[mr friendly guy]

They got the Destroyer to appear. Looks good, and I think I will see it in 3D.

[Bedlam]

Thor isn't SUPPOSED to hold onto his hammer with both hands. Mjolnir is designed to be thrown or swung in wide arcs, single-handed. Thor is almost never depicted in Norse myth as swinging it two-handed.

If I remember my mythology correctly that was the joke about Mjolnir, the Dwarves made the handle to short to wield two handed and thus though it was useless when it was given to Thor, of course he was so awsome that it wasn't to much of a problem to him

[Jim Raynor]

Looks awesome. The costumes appear to work in live action. My worries about Odin's gold eye patch have been relieved.

So many big names and recognizable faces in supporting roles. You can usually tell when they give a crap about making a good superhero movie. Looking forward to this, as well as the Captain America movie (when's the trailer for that one coming out?).

[Freefall]

I know Thor doesn't typically swing his hammer two-handed, but if you look at his hammer in the comics, the handle is definitely long enough to comfortably grab with both hands, with space left over. He often holds it with both hands when unleashing powerful energy blasts or god blasts, and sometimes even just for striking.

The handle is also thicker, and the head is smaller. And it looks more like stone than metal (even though uru is always stated to be a metal, so I don't know why they do that).

Actually, I'm not real familiar with the more recent Thor issues, since his resurrection, so maybe they redesigned it along with his armor. I personally just think the fat-head-thin-handle look is kind of goofy looking. Fortunately, everything else looks great, so it won't keep me from seeing the movie.

And yes, in the myths the dwarfs cut the handle short by accident, but you've got to consider that the handle on an actual war hammer is pretty long, and that in the myths, Thor's hair was red, he rode a chariot drawn by two goats, Loki was Odin's adopted brother, not Thor's, and Thor was fairly stupid and savage. Marvel has always been pretty liberal with how they adapted the mythology to their universe.

[mr friendly guy]

I didn't notice this before, but is Heimdall a black guy and Hogan (or at least another Asgardian with a mace) Asian?

Wow Hollywood gave us Persians who looked like Uruk hai rejects, and Asian thunder gods who just happen to look like a French actor, so whatever, I will just go with the flow.

[Tsyroc]

I know Thor doesn't typically swing his hammer two-handed, but if you look at his hammer in the comics, the handle is definitely long enough to comfortably grab with both hands, with space left over. He often holds it with both hands when unleashing powerful energy blasts or god blasts, and sometimes even just for striking.

The handle is also thicker, and the head is smaller. And it looks more like stone than metal (even though uru is always stated to be a metal, so I don't know why they do that).

Actually, I'm not real familiar with the more recent Thor issues, since his resurrection, so maybe they redesigned it along with his armor. I personally just think the fat-head-thin-handle look is kind of goofy looking. Fortunately, everything else looks great, so it won't keep me from seeing the movie.

And yes, in the myths the dwarfs cut the handle short by accident, but you've got to consider that the handle on an actual war hammer is pretty long, and that in the myths, Thor's hair was red, he rode a chariot drawn by two goats, Loki was Odin's adopted brother, not Thor's, and Thor was fairly stupid and savage. Marvel has always been pretty liberal with how they adapted the mythology to their universe.

Given the character's origin and Mjolnir having the whole deal about a person being worthy gaining the power of Thor I tend to think the original intention of Stan Lee was that the character wouldn't actually be Thor but would have the power and attributes that could be identified with Thor. If that was the intent then originally the character would have been much more like Captain Marvel (Shazam) except with a crippled physician instead of an orphan boy. Presuming this was the case I don't think they held on to that for very long because other beings from Norse mythology were showing up in Thor stories pretty early on.

[Freefall]

I didn't notice this before, but is Heimdall a black guy and Hogan (or at least another Asgardian with a mace) Asian?

Heimdall is a weird choice, but Hogun is one of the Warriors Three and has always been asian; I always figured him for Mongolian, though I'm not sure if it was ever actually specified (I think they just refer to him as "foreign" or something).

Given the character's origin and Mjolnir having the whole deal about a person being worthy gaining the power of Thor I tend to think the original intention of Stan Lee was that the character wouldn't actually be Thor but would have the power and attributes that could be identified with Thor. If that was the intent then originally the character would have been much more like Captain Marvel (Shazam) except with a crippled physician instead of an orphan boy. Presuming this was the case I don't think they held on to that for very long because other beings from Norse mythology were showing up in Thor stories pretty early on.

The first appearance of Thor seems like this could be reasonable, with him thinking of himself as Don Blake with the powers of Thor. However, I think this must have changed extremely quickly, because by the time the Avengers are formed (1963), he is definitely thinking of himself as Thor first, with Don Blake being his disguise, and he is having adventures in Asgard pretty routinely. It also looks like it only took them 2 issues to introduce Asgard, Loki, and the other actual gods into the mix.

[Tsyroc]

The first appearance of Thor seems like this could be reasonable, with him thinking of himself as Don Blake with the powers of Thor. However, I think this must have changed extremely quickly, because by the time the Avengers are formed (1963), he is definitely thinking of himself as Thor first, with Don Blake being his disguise, and he is having adventures in Asgard pretty routinely. It also looks like it only took them 2 issues to introduce Asgard, Loki, and the other actual gods into the mix.

I knew Loki showed up quick but wasn't sure how quickly. They probably liked their design for Thor and went with it even though it didn't match up with mythology.

[mr friendly guy]

I didn't notice this before, but is Heimdall a black guy and Hogan (or at least another Asgardian with a mace) Asian?

Heimdall is a weird choice, but Hogun is one of the Warriors Three and has always been asian; I always figured him for Mongolian, though I'm not sure if it was ever actually specified (I think they just refer to him as "foreign" or something).

According to wiki
Idris Elba as Heimdall: The all-seeing, all-hearing Asgardian sentry of the bifröst bridge, based on the mythological deity of the same name.[31] News of Elba's casting was met by online complaints from some comic book fans who saw it as inappropriate for a Norse deity to be played by a black actor.[32] About his casting, Elba remarked, "[C]asting now is taking definitely a more open-eyed approach to it. I was cast in Thor and I'm cast as a Nordic god. If you know anything about the Nords, they don’t look like me but there you go. I think that's a sign of the times for the future. I think we will see multi-level casting ... and I think that's good". Elba also stated that he was inspired by the source material: "I looked at the comic books actually because Heimdall, he’s a very central character and I wanted to reflect him as he is in the comic books"

Hey its the guy on that vampire show Ultraviolet.

Anyway you are right about Hogan being from the Asgardian dimension but not one of the Aesir. The way Jack Kirby drew him gave me the impression that he was caucasian, albeit dressed in Mongol inspired atire armed with a European style mace. He could very well be "Mongolian", just that Kirby despite being "The King" may have had difficulty illustrating Asian characters.

[Cykeisme]

I didn't notice this before, but is Heimdall a black guy and Hogan (or at least another Asgardian with a mace) Asian?

Wow Hollywood gave us Persians who looked like Uruk hai rejects, and Asian thunder gods who just happen to look like a French actor, so whatever, I will just go with the flow.

All I was thinking when that scene came up was "black Viking, w00t!"

[aieeegrunt]

Ha ha ha where are all the racebending bitchfesters to spring to the defense of the Norse now? This movie looks pretty sweet, I'll be planning to see it in the theatres.

[Jim Raynor]

Ha ha ha where are all the racebending bitchfesters to spring to the defense of the Norse now?

There's a difference. Heimdall isn't a well known character, and won't even be a main character in this movie. Everyone else in Thor will be played by a white actor. Even then, I've seen some comic fans complaining about the changes to Heimdall's appearance, because it strays from the comic books that they grew up reading. From that standpoint, I can sympathize with their opinion. Because they're arguing for some other reason, not because they think that a certain race of people has been neglected.

Someone is going to have their work cut out for them if they want to argue that roles for white actors in Hollywood are few and far between. It's not even close to the absence of Asian actors in movies that are supposed to feature Asian characters. Changing those kids in 21. Using Asians as mere extras in The Last Airbender, a movie based on Asian cultures but starring a bunch of white kids. Casting Jake Gyllenhaal as the title hero in Prince of Persia, because I guess real Middle Easterners can't be action heroes. Mickey freaking Rourke playing Genghis Khan in an upcoming movie, even though The Conqueror flopped over 50 years ago.

Asians are perceived as strange, nerdy, weak, and sexually unattractive (the men, at least) by many white Americans. Middle Eastern people are perceived as terrorists. Those are the stereotypes that are perpetuated in movies. And it seems even more insulting when the kind of roles that could dispel those stereotypes, like the Prince of Persia or the heroes in Airbender are given to white people. Yeah, I get it. Asian actors aren't as marketable to Americans as white actors are. The same could have been said about black actors several decades ago.

[mr friendly guy]

Ha ha ha where are all the racebending bitchfesters to spring to the defense of the Norse now? This movie looks pretty sweet, I'll be planning to see it in the theatres.

I should point from the very own wiki article where I got the casting list, people have complained that he didn't look like the Heimdall from the comics.

As has been pointed (and by racebending) this would not be a problem if it worked both ways, that is minorities also got to play parts of a non minority ethnic group if their acting is good enough. This does not happen and even the Heimdall and Hogan example are weak. The former because Heimdall is a minor character and the major roles went to white actors and Hogan could arguably be non white (see above conversations between me and Freefall).

Now if the major movies based on Marvel characters eg FF, Spiderman, Iron man, Captain America had the protagonists say played by an Asian actor / actress, I bet you would be going WTF. I certainly would.

[SylasGaunt]

Also this is a Kenneth Brannagh movie. IIRC he's got a reputation of not giving a crap as to what race his actors are (didn't he do something like cast Keaunu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne as brothers once?)

[Molyneux]

I'm quite a bit more optimistic about this film now than I was back when the teaser leaked; the costume does, as expected, look a hell of a lot better in motion than it does stationary.

[Zor]

In regards to racebending of the norse gods, you can guess who are among the first to start bitching and this in my mind is more than worth the Artistic Licence with mythology.

Zor