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Anthony Hopkins to Play Odin in Kenneth Branagh's Thor!

by Alex Billington
October 29, 2009

I did not see this coming! No, it won't be Robert De Niro or Jude Law or Brian Blessed, apparently Odin, Thor's father, will be played by none other than Anthony Hopkins in Marvel's upcoming Thor movie. THR's Heat Vision Blog reports that Hopkins is "in negotiations" to play the Norse god and ruler of Asgard in the adaptation being directed by Kenneth Branagh. We already know that the cast also includes Chris Hemsworth as the god of thunder Thor, Tom Hiddleston as his evil brother Loki, Natalie Portman, Jaimie Alexander, Colm Feore, and apparently Robert De Niro and Jude Law. Talk about a very impressive cast!

Odin is the ruler of Asgard, the mythical world where the Norse gods reside. He first appeared in Marvel's Journey into Mystery #86 in 1962 and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The story in the movie is about Thor, a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions re-ignite an ancient war. As punishment, Thor is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans. Once here, he learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends dark forces of Asgard to invade Earth. I wonder who that villain is? And has he been cast yet? Thor definitely gets a bit more anticipated with Hopkins in!

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Related categories: Casting, Movie News

Robbie

Hopkins is awesome. He plays very natural, which I love. This is going to be one hell of a superhero movie!
whomever

Sweet.
Ron

Excellent choice, if he does sign on!
nelson

great choice but who is stellan gonna play? maybe Heimdall
JudasBarronx1

Damn
Timothy

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby didn't _create_ the character. he already existed as the chief god of Norse religion.
yojoe

its what me and my freiends always wanted for a thor movie we wanted hopkins for odin since instinct, now nothing can stop this movie anymore not even icegiants galore!!!
http://vimeo.com/user1764245 Nick Sears

God, this cast keeps getting better and better.
tazz

@6 Timothy Marvel's Journey into Mystery comic was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby he never said Thor was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. everyone knows Thor is a god of Norse religion.
tazz

oh yeah it would be great to see Sir Anthony Hopkins playing Odin but im waiting for this info to be confirmed cause he is still in negotiations. Alex remember he got a knighthood so his Sir Anthony Hopkins now lol .
xerxex

nice.
Dave

wow !!!
DRM

I'm lukewarm on this. Hopkins is a great actor, but overused as the "elderly father/mentor figure". And It's also going to draw too many parallel's between "Thor" and "Beowolf" from a few years ago.
d-man

#14 the "Thor" and "Beowolf" comment is so true
Sabes

Woot
M-Cat

Thor turning out to be great with any of these rumors coming true.
Daas

This is awesome! What a pleasant surprise. Oh and Alex, the DeNiro and Law rumor has basically been proven false already.
Spider

Good choice! I secretly hoped Stan Lee would be chosen for this role...that would have been inspired casting! Sir Anthony Hopkins will be good, though!
SC

as if i wasn't already uber excited for thor!!!! great news!
Jaf

class choice
JimD

Ok thats perfect casting..
Sumit

"and apparently Robert De Niro and Jude Law" I read that this has been confirmed as false now unfortunately.
teyhtr

the cast is what's gonna sell the movie to the audience, not the character or mythos of Thor himself. Smart move.... smart move.
Aeltri

Because *good* film making is all about hype. That makes a grand total of two well known actors, so I think you got it backwards. You should know by now that attaching big names to a film purely for their 'star power' does not guarantee it will be good. In many instances, I'd argue the result is quite the opposite. But I, for one, hope they stick to relative unknowns for the remaining cast. I really am sick and tired of seeing the same overrated actors in the same roles over and over again...
TediusTed

If Max Von Sydow was younger I would have thought he may be a good Odin, however I hope Anthony Hopkins does well with this
yojoe

hokins has nothing to do with starpower he just is perfect...PERFECT!!!
tobi,leader of the akatsuki

wow fucking great bit of casting with hopkins,brain blessed could be playing one of the warriors three,this is got to be one of the best cast ever for a superhero film.
mandarin

"Make no mistake, he must be stopped"
Marius

What? No black people in Asgard? Racist!
Vic

he looks exactly like the comic book rendition, are you kidding?
Vold

Not enough people know the true Norse lore in the first place so to have this movie come out and tell them totally false lore is disconcerting. i look forward to this movie but for those of us who are Pagan I do hope that they don't fuck with our religion too much. We've had 2000 years of misinformation already.
Django

Awesome. That would mean that Brian Blessed will hopefully play the Fat warrior of the Warriors Three.
Django

At Void # 31: Because "Ben Hur" , the Greatest Story Ever Told, and Passion of the Christ clearly got things SOO right. It's a movie - not a piece of propaganda. Although, I for one would be eager to see a faithful rendition of Norse Iconography in the set & costume design - w/ hopefully a knowing nod to Jack Kirby's classic representations of Asgard, etc.
Richard

Wow! Excellent casting news! This movie is shaping up to be epic, but who the hell is Di Nero gonna play? Don't get me wrong hes one of my favorite actors but have you seen him try to do other genera and other accents? Not sure I'm down with all that.
Daniel

The best actors are always gods Morgan Freeman = God Liam Neeson = Zues Sir Anthony Hopkins = Odin
zeldaprimed

Can't Wait!
Orlando Cotto

I think he should play thor father odust. And have kevin nash from wwe play thor.
David Johnson

Oh yeah, I can't wait for the blooper reel on this one. "well hello Sif... thpthp"