Let’s count up the positive things about “Thor” at this point. The cast is pretty strong, with rising stars like Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston and Kat Dennings mixing with more established names like Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman, and beloved character actors like Stellan Skarsgard, Idris Elba and Colm Feore. Kenneth Branagh has a solid track record, and could be a perfect pick to give the source material some weight, plus he seems genuinely passionate about the characters. And the whole project seems to have an epic scope to it which might elevate it above the likes of “The Incredible Hulk.”
On the other hand, there are the silly, silly images we’ve so far seen from the film, the latest of which hit in the print edition of the LA Times today (via /Film). Following on from the steampunk-meets-“Batman and Robin” look of last week’s images, this is a wider look at the sets from the film, which appear to have been kept in storage since Mike Hodges’ “Flash Gordon” in 1980. We also get our first look at two of the Warriors Three, Fandral the Dashing (Josh Dallas) and Hogun The Grim (Tadanobu Asano), although fans of Ray Stevenson in a fat suit will have to hang on a bit longer for the first glimpse of Volstagg the Valiant. Thor’s mother, the amusingly named Frigga, as played by the long absent Rene Russo, can also be seen.
The first footage from the film is likely to be seen at the Marvel panel this coming Saturday at Comic-Con, so maybe it’ll all look amazing in motion. But having said that, the average audience member in Hall H could be shown footage of the guy who stuffed them into a locker in high school getting a handjob from their sister while dressed as Green Arrow, and would still whoop and cheer like they were at an evangelist meeting, so we’ll take any reactions from San Diego with a pinch of salt.