Thor (film)

Thor is a 2011 film adapted from the Marvel comics superhero of the same name, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. It is the fourth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film is directed by Kenneth Branagh and stars Chris Hemsworth as the titular character, with Natalie Portman as his human love interest Jane Foster, Tom Hiddleston as his step-brother Loki, Rene Russo as Frigga, and Anthony Hopkins as Odin.

Plot
In 970 A.D., Odin, king of Asgard, wages war against the Frost Giants of Jotunheim and their leader Laufey, to prevent them conquering the Nine Realms, starting with Midgard (Earth). The Asgardian warriors defeat the Frost Giant's and seize the source of their power, the Casket of Ancient Winters. In the present, Odin's son Thor prepares to ascend to the throne of Asgard as King but is interrupted when the Frost Giants attempt to retrieve the Casket. Against Odin's order, Thor travels to Jotunheim to confront Laufey, accompanied by his brother Loki, childhood friend Sif and the Warriors Three: Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun. A battle ensues which forces Odin to intervene and save their lives, destroying the fragile truce between the two races. For his arrogance, Odin strips Thor of his godly power and exiles him to Earth, accompanied by his Hammer - and source of his power - Mjølner, now protected by a spell to allow only the worthy to wield it.

Thor arrives in New Mexico and is found by scientist Jane Foster, her assistant Darcy Lewis and mentor Dr. Erik Selvig while Mjølner is discovered by agent Phil Coulson and confiscated by S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson forcibly acquires Jane's data about the wormhole that delivered Thor to Earth. Thor, having discovered the location of Mjølner, attacks the S.H.I.E.L.D facility to retrieve it, only to find himself unable to lift it, and is captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. He is eventually freed and resigns himself to exile on Earth as he develops a romance with Jane.

Meanwhile, Loki discovers that he is Laufey's son and was adopted by Odin after the war ended. When Odin, overcome with stress, falls into the Odinsleep, Loki is given the throne as Regent and offers Laufey the chance to kill Odin as well as retrieve the Casket. Sif and the Warriors Three, unhappy with Loki's rule, attempt to discover a way to end Thor's exile, convincing Heimdall, gatekeeper of the Bifrost Bridge - the means of traveling between worlds - to allow them passage to Earth. Aware of their plan, Loki sends The Destroyer, a seemingly-invincible, metallic Golem, to pursue them and kill Thor. Sif and the Warriors Three find Thor but are attacked and defeated by the Destroyer, forcing Thor to sacrifice himself to save them and Jane. In doing so, he proves worthy to wield Mjølner, and the hammer returns to him, restoring his powers and allowing him to defeat the Destroyer before he prepares to return to Asgard and confront Loki.

In Asgard, Loki betrays and kills Laufey, revealing his true plan to use their attempt on Odin's life as an excuse to destroy Jotunheim with the Bifrost Bridge and prove himself worthy to Odin. Thor arrives and fights his brother before destroying the Bifrost Bridge to stop his plan, stranding himself in Asgard. Odin awakens and prevents the brothers from falling into the abyss created in the wake of the Bifrost Bridge's destruction, but Loki, believing he has failed Odin, allows himself to fall to his apparent death. Thor makes amends with Odin, admitting he is not ready to be King, while on Earth Jane and her team search for a way to open a portal to Asgard so that Jane can reunite with Thor.

In a post-credits scene, Dr. Selvig is taken to a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility where he meets Nick Fury. Fury asks Selvig to study the recently-discovered Cosmic Cube, which holds untold power, to which Selvig agrees. It is then revealed that Selvig is under the control of Loki who remains invisible yet manipulative of the weaker minded humans he now lives among after having been transported to Earth.

Cast

 * Chris Hemsworth as Thor
 * Dakota Goyo as Young Thor
 * Tom Hiddleston as Loki
 * Ted Allpress as Young Loki
 * Natalie Portman as Jane Foster
 * Anthony Hopkins as Odin
 * Jaimie Alexander as Sif
 * Colm Feore as Laufey
 * Stellan Skarsgård as Professor Erik Selvig
 * Joshua Dallas as Fandral
 * Ray Stevenson as Volstagg
 * Tadanobu Asano as Hogun
 * Idris Elba as Heimdall
 * Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis
 * Rene Russo as Frigga
 * Adriana Barraza as Isabel Alvarez
 * Darren Kendrick as Frost Giant Sentry
 * Joseph Gatt as Frost Giant Grundroth
 * Joshua Cox as Frost Giant Hailstrum
 * Luke Massy as Frost Giant Raze
 * Deena Trudy as "Guardian Angel"
 * Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson
 * Maximiliano Hernández as Jasper Sitwell
 * Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
 * Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton
 * The Destroyer (no dialogue)

Continuity and References to the Marvel Cinematic Universe

 * The prologue takes place in Tonsberg, Norway. It is believed that during this time the Asgardians gave or lost the Tesseract to the Earth. Tonsberg is shown early in Captain America: The First Avenger when Johann Schmidt aquires the cube.
 * Mjolnir was shown in the post-credits sequence of Iron Man 2, a scene that appeared once again in Thor.
 * Clark Gregg returns as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson, who previously appeared in Iron Man and Iron Man 2.
 * Erik Selvig references Bruce Banner's gamma incident.
 * Kevin Feige has confirmed that the "friend" Erik Selvig plans to email is Henry Pym.
 * Clint Barton appears as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Thor temporarily goes under the alias Donald Blake.
 * When The Destroyer arrives on Earth, Jasper Sitwell asks "Is that one of Stark's?" to which Phil Coulson replies "I don't know... the guy never tells me anything".
 * Erik Selvig has a conversation with Nick Fury after the credits.
 * Nick Fury shows Selvig a metal case containing the Cosmic Cube, which was recovered by Howard Stark in Captain America: The First Avenger.
 * In Odin's Trophy Room there is the Casket of Ancient Winters, Infinity Gauntlet and Warlock's Eye.

Production History
Screenwriter Mark Protosevich was originally hired to write a script for a live-action Thor film and stated that "It's going to be like a superhero origin story, but not one about a human gaining super powers, but of a god realizing his true potential. It's the story of a [sic] Old Testament god who becomes a New Testament god. It will be mythic, but also bear the unmistakable qualities of a Marvel movie, an epic fantasy adventure."

After being impressed with his work on Stardust, Marvel Studios signed Matthew Vaughn to direct in August 2007. Vaughn intended to start filming in late 2008, after rewriting Protosevich's script in order to bring down the budget to $150 million. Protosevich's first draft had a cost of $300 million to produce.

After the success of Iron Man, Marvel Studios announced a release date of June 4, 2010.

In May, 2008, it was announced that Vaughn had left the project and Protosevich was working on another draft of the script.

Kenneth Branagh was hired to direct the film in early 2009, and the release date was moved to July 16, 2010. However, shortly afterwards Marvel reorganized its release dates, moving Thor back to a date of June 17, 2011.

Kenneth Branagh has began filming in January 2010.

Paramount and Marvel Entertainment pushed up the release of Marvel comic book adaptation "Thor" by two weeks to May 6, 2011 and toke over the now canceled Spider-Man 4's Release Date.

Production
The film was shot in New Mexico, New York City, New York and California.

Videos
Video:Thor teaser trailer|Thor teaser trailer Video:Thor Super Bowl TV Spot Trailer - Official (HD) Video:Thor - Trailer 2 (OFFICIAL)|Trailer 2 Video:Thor Blu-ray and DVD Movie Trailer|Blu-ray and Dvd Trailer