A Thor Point (An open letter to Marvel)

Posted on December 25, 2008 
Filed Under Movies, All, Comics

thor I’ve been hearing whispers lately that Marvel Comics is shopping around a concept for a movie based on the legendary Norse god, and long standing comic book hero the mighty Thor. I’ve seen a couple names associated with directing as well as lead roles. Some of which I find quite disturbing. For those not savvy to the superhero comic genre, Thor is one of the biggest guns in the Marvel line up, and one of the most enduring. Recently he has had something of a renaissance with the newest incarnation of his comic, there have been multiple cover variants and issues selling out. As a character Thor has fought the Hulk to a standstill, been tested by the Beyonder, tormented by Mephisto, faced the Celestials, and battled with Desak the destroyer of gods not to mention the Silver Surfer. Recently over a disagreement Thor shut down Iron man himself without even breaking a sweat. Old shell head had to walk home from that encounter, not a proud moment for Stark Enterprises. Thor was there for the Secret Wars, Cloned for the Civil War story line, and even conquered the earth in an a vane attempt to improve the human condition. He’s been a solo act as well as a member of the Avengers, a cornerstone team up including Captain America himself. He’s been killed, cloned, banished, broken, and pulverized to the point where all that was holding him together was his armor. He’s lost his powers countless times, lost his hammer to the alien Beta Ray Bill, faced Ragnarök several times, and even been turned into a frog. I guess what I’m trying to say here is that in terms of Super heroes we’re talking maximum chops.

Now over the years Thor has been re-interpreted many different ways. Originally he was a magically created alter identity for a mortal by the name of Dr. Donald Blake. Later this was amended to Dr. Blake being a fictitious construct for the real thunder god. For a time they dropped Dr. Blake altogether, and let Thor put on blue jeans and try to pass as a mortal by the name of Sigurd Jarlson. Think Clark Kent with a pony tail here. Most recently he has been called back from death itself by his connection to earth and the wandering spirit of Dr. Blake. Over the years he’s been portrayed at times as a spandexed hero, and at other times as a deity and elemental force of nature. Herein lies the peril Marvel is now presented with. There’s so much material to draw on and so many reinterpretations of the thunder god to choose from. The expectations for a movie based on this character will be huge, and the nature of the storyline lends itself equally to epic grandeur and ridiculous camp.

The first big question is what actor could possibly lift the hammer of such an epic character? Remember this is the guy that inspired the likes of Beowulf! I’ve seen names like Brad Pitt tossed out followed by debates of whether or not he can beef up enough to fill the armor. Or whether or not Hulk Hogan would be able to tone it down enough. What these debates seem to miss is the first decision of whether the part should be played by one or two actors. For instance while perhaps Brad Pitt could theoretically fill the loafers of Dr. Blake, he would look like a kid trick or treating decked out as the thunder god. But if they can find an actor able to play both Sigurd Jarlson and Thor then perhaps it can be a single actor. That would be my preference, but he must be big, and he must look Norser than Norse. However, in this sense the script may need to be predicated on the casting. The second big question is will he be portrayed simply as a super hero, or as the actual god of thunder? In the current incarnation of his comic the direction is clearly leaning toward the actual god of Norse mythology, with a more medieval reinterpretation of the costume. I would urge Marvel to forgo the old spandex design for new retro chain mail , and capitalize on the current success by staying true to this latest vision.

Now as for the script. One article I saw seems to believe that they’re going old school and doing the origin story of Thor himself as a god. OK, as a fan of the comic and the legends, I’d love it but it would be a flop. To be successful this movie will need to merge superhero shtick with epic legend and a heavy dose of action. Don’t tell us where Thor himself came from, we’ve all got the genera idea. Just explain what he’s doing in the here and now playing at super hero. There’s some room here for good story telling. Take a note from Highlander, and lean on the man out of his time theme. Also, take lesson from the success of the current comic. It should be post Ragnarök, not a young Thor wilding on earth. That should have finished a thousand years ago. If he’s back from the dead, post Ragnarök as in the current comic, for the first time in millennium he wouldn’t know when and how he would ultimately die. For the first time Thor would be facing an uncertain future, in a strange new time that has all but forgotten him. This also removes all those sticky plot problems posed by characters like Odin being around. There’s certainly some grist for the mill here, I can think of at least two classic Thor comic story lines to tie in that could bring him to the future and still run as a fun story line. So please don’t drop the ball on this one.

One final note. Theme song. It needs to be Led Zeppelin’s immigrant song. Enough said. So please don’t let us down.

Sincerely

A true believer

;)

Comments

3 Responses to “A Thor Point (An open letter to Marvel)”

  1. payday loan on March 19th, 2009 9:03 pm

    I would watch it either way. i have to say Thor is one of the only characters that I wish had his own little world, i cannot see him in our world fighting bad guys our heroes do. That is stupid.

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