Thor is a 2011 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures.[N 1] It is the fourth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Kenneth Branagh, written by the writing team of Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz along with Don Payne, and stars Chris Hemsworth as the title character, alongside Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Colm Feore, Ray Stevenson, Idris Elba, Kat Dennings, Rene Russo, and Anthony Hopkins. The film sees Thor banished to Earth from Asgard, stripped of his powers and his hammer Mjölnir, after reigniting a dormant war. As his brother Loki plots to take the Asgardian throne, Thor must prove himself worthy.
Plot[]
In 965 AD, Odin, king of Asgard, wages war against the Frost Giants of Jotunheim and their leader Laufey, to prevent them from conquering the nine realms, starting with Earth. The Asgardian warriors defeat the Frost Giants and seize the source of their power, the Casket of Ancient Winters.
In the present,[N 2] Odin's son Thor prepares to ascend to the throne of Asgard, but is interrupted when 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 until Odin intervenes to save the Asgardians, destroying the fragile truce between the two races. For Thor's arrogance, Odin strips his son of his godly power and exiles him to Earth as a mortal, accompanied by his hammer Mjölnir, now protected by an enchantment that allows only the worthy to wield it.
Thor lands in New Mexico, where astrophysicist Dr. Jane Foster, her assistant Darcy Lewis, and mentor Dr. Erik Selvig find him. The local populace finds Mjolnir, which S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson soon commandeers before forcibly acquiring Foster's data about the wormhole that delivered Thor to Earth. Thor, having discovered Mjolnir's nearby location, seeks to retrieve it from the facility that S.H.I.E.L.D. has constructed, but he finds himself unable to lift it and is captured. With Selvig's help, he is freed and resigns himself to exile on Earth as he develops a romance with Foster.
Loki discovers that he is Laufey's biological son, adopted by Odin after the war ended. A weary Odin falls into the deep "Odinsleep" to recover his strength. Loki takes the throne in Odin's stead and offers Laufey the chance to kill Odin and retrieve the Casket. Sif and the Warriors Three, unhappy with Loki's rule, attempt to return Thor from exile, convincing Heimdall, gatekeeper of the Bifröst—the means of traveling between worlds—to allow them passage to Earth. Aware of their plan, Loki sends the Destroyer, a seemingly indestructible automaton, to pursue them and kill Thor. The warriors find Thor, but the Destroyer attacks and defeats them, prompting Thor to offer himself instead. Struck by the Destroyer and near death, Thor's sacrifice proves him worthy to wield Mjölnir. The hammer returns to him, restoring his powers and enabling him to defeat the Destroyer. Kissing Foster goodbye and vowing to return, he and his fellow Asgardians leave to confront Loki.
In Asgard, Loki betrays and kills Laufey, revealing his true plan to use Laufey's attempt on Odin's life as an excuse to destroy Jotunheim with the Bifröst Bridge, thus proving himself worthy to his adoptive father. Thor arrives and fights Loki before destroying the Bifröst Bridge to stop Loki's plan, stranding himself in Asgard. Odin awakens and prevents the brothers from falling into the abyss created in the wake of the bridge's destruction, but Loki apparently commits suicide by allowing himself to fall when Odin rejects his pleas for approval. Thor makes amends with Odin, admitting he is not ready to be king; meanwhile, on Earth, Foster and her team search for a way to open a portal to Asgard.
In a post-credits scene, Selvig is taken to a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, where Nick Fury opens a briefcase and asks him to study a mysterious cube-shaped object,[N 3] which Fury says may hold untold power. An invisible Loki prompts Selvig to agree, and he does.
Cast[]
- Chris Hemsworth as Thor
- Dakota Goyo as Young Thor
- Natalie Portman as Doctor Jane Foster
- Tom Hiddleston as Loki
- Ted Allpress as Young Loki
- Anthony Hopkins as King Odin
- Stellan Skarsgård as Doctor Erik Selvig
- Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis
- Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson
- Colm Feore as King Laufey
- Idris Elba as Heimdall
- Ray Stevenson as Volstagg
- Tadanobu Asano as Hogun
- Joshua Dallas as Fandral
- Jaimie Alexander as Sif
- Rene Russo as Queen Frigga
- Adriana Barraza as Isabel Alvarez
- Maximiliano Hernández as Agent Jasper Sitwell
- Joshua Cox as Hailstrum
- Joseph Gatt as Grundroth
- Luke Massy as Raze
- Buddy Sosthand as Agent Delancey
- Jamie McShane as Agent Jackson
- Dale Godboldo as Agent Garrett
- Patrick O'Brien Demsey as Agent Cale
- Matt Battaglia as Pete
- Joel McCrary as Jake
- Isaac Kappy as Kyle
- J. Michael Straczynski as Townie
- Stan Lee as Stan the Man
- Samuel L. Jackson as Director Nick Fury (uncredited)
- Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye (uncredited)
Sequels[]
Thor was followed by two sequels: Thor: The Dark World (2013) and Thor: Ragnarok (2017) a fourth film Thor: Love and Thunder is scheduled for 2022.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This is the fourth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
- This is the first film centering on Thor.
- This is the lowest grossing film in the Thor series.
- This is the first film in the Thor series.
- The final choice for the role of Thor came down to brothers Chris Hemsworth and Liam Hemsworth. Chris found it funny: "We both came all the way over here from Australia and ended up battling against each other." He, however, bore no ill-will towards Liam, claiming he was rooting for him to get the role.
- Executive producer Stan Lee claimed he'd always wanted to play Odin, but was happy with Sir Anthony Hopkins' casting and performance in the role.
- Tom Hiddleston found Loki's helmet very uncomfortable, as it was heavy to wear, and he couldn't see properly out of it. He channelled this discomfort into Loki's battle scenes.
- The post-credits scene was directed by Joss Whedon to connect Avengers Assemble (2012) with this movie.
- This is Rene Russo's first movie in six years. According to Russo, it was her daughter who persuaded her to work on the movie, after a long sabbatical.
- According to Sir Kenneth Branagh, Odin runs the Marvel Universe. It was Odin who hid away the Tesseract in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), and an Infinity Gauntlet in Avengers Assemble (2012).
- Natalie Portman took the role of Jane Foster because she couldn't resist the opportunity of a comic book movie directed by Sir Kenneth Branagh: "I was just like, Kenneth Branagh doing 'Thor' is super-weird, I've gotta do it."
- The agent that grabs a bow and arrow when Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is attempting to recover Mjölnir is referred to as Agent Barton. This is Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), also known as the archer Hawkeye, who becomes a prominent and founding member of the Avengers in Avengers Assemble (2012).
- Alexander Skarsgård was one of the actors in the running for the role of Thor, primarily for his physical appearance. Alexander's father Stellan landed a role in this movie, as Professor Erik Selvig.
- Tom Hiddleston went on to become a comic book fan, especially of Loki.
- This is Sir Anthony Hopkins' first comic book movie (The Mask of Zorro (1998) does not count; Zorro started in prose). He was previously offered the role of Alfred in Batman Begins (2005).
- The final Marvel Studios movie shot entirely on 35mm film.
- Zachary Levi was approached for the role of Fandral, but had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts. Dominic Cooper was rumored, but Stuart Townsend was then cast in the role. But a few days before filming began, he left the role because of creative differences with the filmmakers. Finally, Josh Dallas took the role. Levi played Fandral in Thor: The Dark World (2013) when Dallas was no longer available. Cooper played young Howard Stark in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).
- Charlie Cox auditioned for the role of Loki. While he didn't get the part, he did end up being cast as the main character in Daredevil (2015).
- This is Rene Russo's first comic book movie. She was previously considered for the role of Chase Meridian in Batman Forever (1995), but was replaced by Nicole Kidman, when Michael Keaton left the project, and was replaced by the younger Val Kilmer.
- In 2005, Matthew Vaughn was going to direct this movie, describing it as "the birth of a hero, interweaving Gladiator (2000) with Norse mythology." Vaugh would later direct the comic book movies Kick-Ass (2010) and X-Men: First Class (2011) and the Kingsman films for Marvel Comics.
- This is Natalie Portman's second comic book movie after V for Vendetta (2005).
- This is the first appearance of S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jasper Sitwell (Maximiliano Hernández), who is a recurring character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- In the 1990s, Sam Raimi had planned to direct this movie under Twentieth Century Fox, but the studio passed on the project. Raimi would later direct a trilogy of films on Spider-Man and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), two other Marvel Comics superheroes.
- This is the last Marvel Studios movie after Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010) and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) to be distributed through Paramount Pictures. Disney purchased Marvel Studios for $4 billion in 2009, two years before this movie's release, and subsequently paid $115 million to Paramount Pictures for distribution rights to the subsequent Marvel Studios releases of The Avengers (2012) and Iron Man 3 (2013).
- As of 2018, the only Marvel Cinematic Universe movie to be directed by an Academy Award nominated director, Sir Kenneth Branagh.
- This is the first movie in the MCU to be released in 3-D.
- This is the only Thor movie in the trilogy to be released in May. Thor: The Dark World (2013) and Thor: Ragnarok (2017) were released in November.
| Thor |
|---|
| Thor (2011), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) |
| Phase One |
|---|
| Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), The Avengers (2012) |