Marvel Studios recently pushed Thor’s release date from summer 2010 to summer 2011, but that hasn’t slowed down director Kenneth Branagh from searching for his cast.
Branagh is a veteran of Shakespeare — he starred in and directed adaptations of Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, and Hamlet, among others — so it’s perhaps unsurprising that he’s going with actors mostly known for their serious roles.
Deadline Hollywood Daily reports that Natalie Portman is Branagh’s first choice for the female lead, while Josh Hartnett is the top candidate to play Loki, the movie’s villain. Reportedly, Hartnett impressed Branagh back when he played the villainous Iago character in the teen Othello movie O.
This wouldn’t be Hartnett’s first flirtation with a superhero movie. Before Bryan Singer signed onto direct Superman Returns, another Superman project was in the hands of Brett Ratner, who pursued Hartnett for the lead role. Hartnett declined, which led to Ratner leaving the project, which lead to Singer then taking it and Ratner taking the Singer-less third X-Men film. It’s one of Hollywood’s long and complicated what-if stories.
Back to Thor: as for the title role, Branagh is apparently looking at a lot of semi-unknowns, including Charlie Hunnam (Children of Men) and Alexandar Skarsgard (True Blood). Don’t be surprised if you hear “officially in negotiations” stories soon.
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