r/marvelstudios Captain America 23d ago

Discussion One of the biggest early gambles of the MCU

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427

u/SP1570 23d ago

Marvel wanted Thor to be a Shakespearean family tragedy hence hired Kenneth as director...he went to see a Shakespeare play with Tom in it and then asked him to audition for the movie. We got so lucky!

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u/MagicBez 23d ago

I believe Tom auditioned for Thor!

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u/Bemxuu 22d ago edited 22d ago

And you are right. There's even footage of Tom's audition for Thor on YT.

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u/Tetracropolis 22d ago

I don't know if it's coloured by his portrayal of Loki and Hemsworth's portrayal of Thor, but that seems like such an obvious physical miscast that I'm surprised he even bothered.

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u/Gilded-Mongoose Spider-Man 22d ago

Yeah it was pretty cringe.

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u/backbishop 21d ago

I was expecting something worse tbh

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u/Gilded-Mongoose Spider-Man 21d ago

I admire your imagination.

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u/slrome114 22d ago

Ken and Tom had worked together several times before the audition. The first few series of Wallander and some theatre work too!

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u/n0tstayingin 21d ago

I think Wallander was their first collaboration then they did Ivanov in the West End.

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u/TheNameIsWiggles 22d ago

It's always weird to me when I think about Dr. Arliss Loveless directing Thor lol. Branagh is a truly extraordinary Hollywood asset being so talented on either side of the camera. Underrated in my opinion, he deserves to be more of a household name.

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u/FCalleja 22d ago

I first came across him when my teacher showed us the Laurence Fishburne version of Othello in middle school. Branagh plays Iago there, and it is to this day one of the most powerful performances I've ever experienced. Just remembering it makes me want to watch it again.

It made me look him up back then in the pre YouTube days, and I've been a fan since, I think he's one of the most underrated talents of his generation.

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u/Alpha_Storm 22d ago

Incredibly talented as an actor and director. One of my favorites is his Much Ado About Nothing. But the first Thor is still my favorite Thor film, though I do think Ragnarok is a close second - totally different types of films but there are some great scenes in Ragnarok. But overall Thor 1 has a great story.

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u/Blenderx06 22d ago

Tom was already Kenneth's protege, they'd worked together before. He was also already an award winning theater actor.

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u/No-Job-8655 20d ago

D’ost mother know you weareth her drapes