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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!
38 Comments
1
Hopkins is awesome. He plays very natural, which I love. This is going to be one hell of a superhero movie!
Robbie on Oct 29, 2009
2
Sweet.
whomever on Oct 29, 2009
3
Excellent choice, if he does sign on!
Ron on Oct 29, 2009
4
great choice but who is stellan gonna play? maybe Heimdall
nelson on Oct 29, 2009
5
Damn 🙂
JudasBarronx1 on Oct 29, 2009
6
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby didn't _create_ the character. he already existed as the chief god of Norse religion.
Timothy on Oct 29, 2009
7
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!!!
yojoe on Oct 29, 2009
9
@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 on Oct 29, 2009
10
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 ;-).
tazz on Oct 29, 2009
11
nice.
xerxex on Oct 29, 2009
12
wow !!!
Dave on Oct 29, 2009
13
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.
DRM on Oct 29, 2009
14
#14 the "Thor" and "Beowolf" comment is so true
d-man on Oct 29, 2009
15
Woot
Sabes on Oct 29, 2009
16
Thor turning out to be great with any of these rumors coming true.
M-Cat on Oct 29, 2009
17
This is awesome! What a pleasant surprise. Oh and Alex, the DeNiro and Law rumor has basically been proven false already.
Daas on Oct 29, 2009
18
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! 🙂
Spider on Oct 29, 2009
19
as if i wasn't already uber excited for thor!!!! great news!
SC on Oct 29, 2009
20
class choice
Jaf on Oct 30, 2009
21
Ok thats perfect casting..
JimD on Oct 30, 2009
22
"and apparently Robert De Niro and Jude Law" I read that this has been confirmed as false now unfortunately.
Sumit on Oct 30, 2009
23
the cast is what's gonna sell the movie to the audience, not the character or mythos of Thor himself. Smart move.... smart move.
teyhtr on Oct 30, 2009
24
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...
Aeltri on Oct 30, 2009
25
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
TediusTed on Oct 30, 2009
26
hokins has nothing to do with starpower he just is perfect...PERFECT!!!
yojoe on Oct 30, 2009
27
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.
tobi,leader of the akatsuki on Oct 30, 2009
28
"Make no mistake, he must be stopped"
mandarin on Oct 30, 2009
29
What? No black people in Asgard? Racist!
Marius on Oct 30, 2009
30
he looks exactly like the comic book rendition, are you kidding?
Vic on Oct 30, 2009
31
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.
Vold on Oct 30, 2009
32
Awesome. That would mean that Brian Blessed will hopefully play the Fat warrior of the Warriors Three.
Django on Oct 30, 2009
33
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.
Django on Oct 30, 2009
34
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.
Richard on Oct 30, 2009
35
The best actors are always gods Morgan Freeman = God Liam Neeson = Zues Sir Anthony Hopkins = Odin
Daniel on Oct 31, 2009
36
Can't Wait!
zeldaprimed on Oct 31, 2009
37
I think he should play thor father odust. And have kevin nash from wwe play thor.
Orlando Cotto on Nov 3, 2009
38
Oh yeah, I can't wait for the blooper reel on this one. "well hello Sif... thpthp"
David Johnson on Aug 7, 2010
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