Over the weekend, affable veteran actor Anthony Hopkins was haunting the hallways at the Beverly Hills Four Seasons, shaking the hands of various journalists as he showed off a new grey beard. When a couple of journalists asked him who he was playing in his next movie, he responded “I’m God!” and then burst out laughing.
Moments earlier, the Oscar-winner sat down with MTV to explore a few of the finer points of his character in Marvel’s now-filming blockbuster.
“It’s for ‘Thor’,” he said of the beard. “It has a great director in Kenneth Branagh. So, I’m lucky. In the past year I’ve worked with [‘Wolfman’] filmmaker Joe Johnston, Woody Allen and Ken Branagh.” Read more...
Since we have yet to see the first image of "Thor" star Chris Hemsworth in costume, any bit of information we can get about how the "Star Trek" actor is approaching the look and feel of Marvel's god of thunder is worth a mention these days.
That's why we had to slip in a few questions about Hemsworth when we spoke to his "Red Dawn" cast mate Josh Hutcherson during the Sundance Film Festival.
"The entire time, he was constantly bulking up and just getting bigger and bigger throughout the entire thing," said Hutcherson of Hemsowrth's preparation for the role during the filming of "Red Dawn" last year. "The dude's a beast now. ... I think he's going to really tear it up."
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Over the course of Anthony Hopkins' long cinematic career, he has taken on a variety of parts, including a charismatic serial killer, a vampire hunter and the President of the United States. However, Hopkins' upcoming role as Odin in director Kenneth Branagh's "Thor" will be the first time the acclaimed actor has ever portrayed a god, much to his apparent delight.
"I hope I look like God," said Hopkins during an interview with Sci-Fi Wire. In Norse mythology, Odin is the king of the Gods (sometimes called the All-Father) and is also the father of Thor and stepfather of Loki, respectively played by Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston.
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The hotly anticipated "Iron Man 2" may only be three months away from theaters, but Robert Downey Jr. is already looking ahead to "The Avengers" as a culmination of the first four years of movies from Marvel Studios.
"It's the pinnacle, but only if it's done in the smartest and best and most creatively sound way possible," Downey told SFX Magazine, (via ComicBookMovie.com).
"And I'm not saying we can't get there. I'm just saying it would be better to get there and not stay on schedule than to get everyone what they were hoping for in terms of a release date but not do it correctly. And by correctly, I mean my way," laughed Downey. Read more...
Fans that are worried about how the fantasy world of "Thor" and the high-tech reality of "Iron Man" will reconcile with one another, it turns out that there's nothing to fear — according to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, "Thor" is more scientific in nature than you might initially think.
Superhero Hype caught an interview between Feige and SFX Magazine during which the Marvel executive spoke about "Thor" and its inclination towards science fiction rather than fantasy.
"We're not doing the blow-the-dust-off-of-the-old-Norse-book-in-your-library 'Thor,'" said Feige. "And in the 'Thor' of the Marvel Universe, there's a race called the Asgardians. And we're linked through this Tree of Life that we're unaware of. It's real science, but we don't know about it yet. The 'Thor' movie is about teaching people that." Read more...
Earlier today we told you about Samuel L. Jackson's new comic book series, "Cold Space," but now we get back to the projects that are foremost on comics fans' minds: the Marvel movies in which he plays S.H.I.E.L.D. head honcho Nick Fury.
Since he's listed as part of the official cast of "Thor," Kenneth Branagh's upcoming take on Marvel's god of thunder, we had to ask how his character will fit into the film. Will Fury drop by to recruit Thor for the Avengers like he did in "Iron Man"?
We'd love to tell you Jackson gave us the full scoop, but apparently he didn't know he was even in the film until he read the news. However, he did have some opinions to offer on Fury's relationship to Thor and how much of the character we'll see in Marvel's future movies. Read more...
S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson might have received the cold shoulder from Tony Stark in "Iron Man," but he'll get at least two more chances to earn a warm reception from Marvel movie audiences when he returns in "Iron Man 2" and "Thor."
Played by Clark Gregg, Agent Coulson will return for both the "Iron Man" sequel and Kenneth Branagh's "Thor," according to Variety. The return of Gregg's character only further confirms the presence of S.H.I.E.L.D. throughout the overarching Marvel movie narrative — a common line likely to culminate in the superhero team-up film "The Avengers."
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With all this talk about the "Spider-Man" reboot and "Green Lantern" casting, it's easy to forget that another big comic book movie, Kenneth Branagh's "Thor," just kicked off production.
We caught up with Branagh at the Golden Globe Awards red carpet to get an update on how the live-action adventures of Marvel's god of thunder are going thus far.
"We just started last week and so far, so good," Branagh told MTV News. Read more...
Last month, actor and motion-capture artist Joseph Gatt caused a stir when he revealed that he had been cast in director Kenneth Branagh’s “Thor.” Now that the film is in full production, Gatt has confirmed that he will be portraying a villain within the movie.
“Marvel [is] really into secrecy and protecting their scripts and characters, so there’s not much I can say except that I’m playing a bad guy with a lot of action,” said Gatt during an interview with Screen Rant. While Gatt withheld the specifics of his part, he also hinted that his character would give Chris Hemsworth’s Thor “a lot of grief.”
Given Gatt’s physical similarities to one of Thor’s long time adversaries, popular speculation is that he will portray Skurge, the Executioner — a longtime ally of Thor’s brother Loki and the Enchantress. Read more...
Following the first day of filming on director Kenneth Branagh’s long awaited “Thor” adaptation, several of the cast members are already enthusiastically talking about their experiences on the set. Ray Stevenson was particularly boisterous when speaking about his role as Volstagg — the powerful and rather obese member of the Warriors Three — during the premiere for “The Book of Eli”
“Oh, I've got a huge fat suit, I'm going to be shedding a lot of pounds in that thing,” said Stevenson during an interview with About.com. “It's just great fun and Kenneth Branagh is fantastic!” Stevenson also spoke at length about the mythology and tone of the movie.
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