"Thor" is coming, which you already know. You've seen the trailers, you've seen the photos. The movie looks epic, the cast is huge, and Paramount and Marvel are throwing a lot of marketing muscle behind it. The question, more than anything else, is how audiences are going to relate to a superhero who's not as well-known as Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, The X-Men, or DC's Superman and Batman characters. And to top it off, he's a Norse god.
"Thor" is directed by Kenneth Branagh, a world-renowned actor and very well-respected director. His film of "Henry V" brought him to the attention of worldwide movie audiences both as a Shakespearean actor and a filmmaker to be reckoned with. He recently gave an interview to Entertainment Weekly about making "Thor," and had some interesting things to say.
For one thing, the latest trailer makes it clear that Thor is out of his element for much of the film.
"I was convinced when it was in development that part of this happening on contemporary Earth was absolutely the right way to go." Branagh says. "And with the fantastical element we’re asking people to go along with, one way to help that happen, and allow it to be dramatic and serious when it needs to be, is to have a sense of humor about it. The film was never designed to be portentous or self-important. It wants to have a really good time enjoying the consequences of the culture clash."
The trailer also makes it clear that there are some distinctly humorous touches to the movie, mostly at Thor's expense.
"We always felt there was a very strong mine of material in the fish-out-of-water. When you reduce a man who is arrogant by temperament, extremely oppressive and used to having his own way, dressed, um … unusually, you are immediately in a position where you have comic friction. This is a guy who continues to live his own reality. In his mind, he’s still prince of the cosmos and he’ll do what he wants. People from Earth getting in his way and asking silly questions is immaterial."
In the Marvel comic, Thor is very literally the Norse god of thunder. Branagh addressed how you make a divine character accessible to a movie audience.
"Even in the case of a god, audiences — paradoxically — enjoy recognizing the human traits. In Thor’s case, we are thrilled by his powers, but I think we relate to his emotions. There are some flaws, some foibles, sibling rivalries at work, and romantic entanglements. The way into making a god attractive is to find out where his experience connects to a human one."
Branagh is an extremely well-known actor to movie audiences. He's cagey about whether or not he has a cameo in this film. He hints at something non-visual and stresses how much there was to do behind the camera. Forget that he's directed himself as Henry V and Hamlet. In any event, the movie opens May 6th, and the cat will be out of the bag then.
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