I’m not sure which is more surprising, the fact that English master-actor Kenneth Branagh is directing a giant tent-pole picture in THOR, or the fact sir Anthony Hopkins has inked a deal to star in the damn thing!
But it’s the truth, as Hopkins as just signed on to play a character called Odin, Norse god and father to both Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston).
Also starring Natalie Portman (below) as Thor’s love interest Jane Foster, THOR picks up:
When the highfalutin young god is, after a rash of poor decisions, cast down to Earth and forced to live with the humans. Thor’s true brawn is tested when the most harmful villain of his world sends the dark forces of Asgard to wreak bloody havoc on Earth.
Robert De Niro, Jude Law, Jaimie Alexander, and Colm Feore are also on board (as well as a rumored Sam Jackson and Stellan Skarsgard).
The flick rolls film this January and looks to bludgeon audiences on May 20, 2011.