It’s not always worthwhile to jump on rumors like this, but the idea that Brad Pitt could be cast as The Mighty Thor in Marvel’s upcoming movie adaptation (due June 4, 2010) is too good an idea to be left alone. The word comes from Latino Review that Marvel is simply tossing the actor’s name around, though apparently the role hasn’t even been suggested, let alone offered, to Pitt.
Unfortunately, it’s hard to imagine that Pitt would be interested in playing a superhero. He’s still a big enough star and a talented enough actor that he might feel he’s above such a thing. However, if he wants to continue making great films like The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, which don’t make him much cash, he’s going to need some mainstream hits, and he could do much worse for a paycheck than wear a cape and helmet and fight evil as the Norse God of Thunder.
So, I’ve come up with five reasons for Pitt to grab Thor’s hammer. Hopefully he’ll find the list convincing.
- Lucrative Franchise Potential - Without the security of more Ocean’s movies and the chance that your star power will wane (it’s happened to your friends and peers), now is the time to suit up for a comic book movie. It’s not like this would be that different from your only other recent hits, Troy and Mr. and Mrs. Smith, neither of which can be proven to have been successful because of you.
- Everyone Should Try it Once - Yes, it’s the cool thing to do for actors of your generation. Your Fight Club costar Ed Norton is The Incredible Hulk, and your Less Than Zero costar Robert Downey Jr. (OK, you weren’t a star then, you only had a bit part) is Iron Man. Sure, your buddy George Clooney and your Troy costar Eric Bana might have some bad words to say about playing a superhero, and it’s easy to see how it didn’t work for either Ben Affleck or his wife. But with your clout, you could make the movie worthwhile. Surely you have the power to make sure there’s a good script and a good director on board (too bad your Snatch producer just quit the gig). You could probably (hopefully) even bring your girlfriend aboard to play Enchantress. Wouldn’t that be fun?
- Do It For Your Kids - As Latino Review suggests, you’re probably going to want to make some movies that your children can watch, and what kid doesn’t want to see his or her dad play a superhero? Better to do something like Thor now than settle for some kind of awful male nanny part down the road.
- It Will Actually Be Good - Superhero movies may be a dime a dozen, and none will ever be as good as any film directed by Terence Malick, or the Coens or Andrew Dominik or any of the other amazing filmmakers you’ve worked with, but as Iron Man has shown, they can be decent. And Marvel Studios is the company that’s making the best effort to produce quality comic book adaptations. Supposedly Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend) has delivered a good script, and Avi Arad is probably going to hire someone respectable to take the helm now that Vaughn is gone (perhaps you could convince David Fincher!).
- You’re the Best Person for the Job - Don’t pass up the chance just because you might believe Marvel has a long list of actors who’d be good for Thor. Yes, they could hire any number of buff blonds, but there is nobody with the combination of looks, talent, charisma, intelligence or star power that you have. And like Downey has done with Iron Man, you can bring some of yourself to the character in order to make it fit more perfectly.
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YEAH, THOR IS BRAD PITT!!
A response from a Spout user’s blog:
I disagree completely with the notion of wanting Brad Pitt to play the norse god of thunder. Although the marvel comic version of Thor,may do justice to that character selection,the real god Thor,should be portrayed by someone with better physical stature like Gerard Butler(300)! Now if Mr.Pitt is planning on doing steroids,in order to capture the true size of the thunder god,then I will have no complaints,but I very much doubt that will occur.
Gerard Butler would be perfect as the thunder god for 2 reasons:
1.He is of Scottish descent. Most scottsman are genetically part scandanavian,because of the settling of the viking tribes,in northern scottland,whom decided to stop pillaging,and start families. It is his birth rite.
2. Screen charisma: As we witnessed in 300,Mr.Butler is not only a demanding physical specimen like Thor,but he knows how to demand peoples attention on the big screen. I believe that the rage and determination he portrayed as a spartan king,could easily be turned into the rage and determination of the thunder god.
James Preston Rogers should be Thor!
To: Marvel Studios This is a petition for all Thor fans alike to show their support for actor James Preston Rogers and let Marvel know that we want James Preston Rogers to be Thor in the upcoming Thor and Avengers movies! James Preston Rogers is an experienced actor that has the stature, the talent, and the presence to portray The God of Thunder the way He is meant to be portrayed on the big screen.
http://www.red-skies.net/THOR.jpg
Sign petition here: http://www.petitiononline.com/Thor2009/petition.html
James been acting for several years now and just starting to hit his stride. He has had the privilage of doing all his own stunts, and having worked with top stars such as Jim Caviezel, Ron Perlman, Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg and Mark Wahlberg.
James will be featured in the film “OUTLANDER” in theaters this Fall directed by Howard McCain.
You can check out his IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2286416/
Check out James myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/jamesdeel
BRAD PITT FOR THOR!!
Have you ever read a thor comic book? Im all for agreeing that brad pitt is a great actor, but your putting him in a role that doesnt fit. Cast brad pitt in Thor and all your gonna get is alot of pissed off Thor fans! hey while your at it why dont you cast Dj qualls for captain america. im going to need you to go to your local comic book store and pick up a couple of thor comics. look at thor and then look at a pic of brad pitt. now imagine you have been reading thor since you were little. Imagine that they finally decided to make a thor movie! Thor! the god of thunder! A guy who wields a hammer as big as a bread box! Thor! By marvel standards Thor is 6′6 and 640lbs. Now imagine thor gets cast as 5′8, 173lb Brad Pitt. Imagine your dissappiontment with marvel’s selection. It would suck as well as not be believable.! thor needs a conan the barbarian type character. i wish arnold was 23 again because he would be perfect! i gotta be honest bro… anyone who thinks brad pitt would make a convincing thor needs to actually read the comic first, and if afterwards still feels the same needs to have their blogging rights revoked. Dork man! Brad pitt as thor! you’ve lost your mind!
Methinks, Brad Pitt may be buff and all that, yet, I find him kind of too short a person for the mighty Thor character on screen (and definitely not of the likes able to weild Mjolnir!!!!) My cudos would go towards the actor who plays the king of the vikings in the 13th warrior flick.(also starring Antonio Banderas.) I’ve been a huge Thor fan since childhood (I’m 42 yrs young!) and personally own most Thor issues. This said, I sincerely do hope that the movie will be epic.. for example: Bill Sienckiewitz era; the casket of ancient winters, etc. + would be cool if the producers used the last song on Meshugga’s (scandinavian metal jazz prog band) new album for the movie.
I’d be really highly dissapointed if this movie were to flop.. because I’ve been waiiiiiiitiiinggg for a very long time for this.
HI,…MY NAME IS NOAH.
MARVEL HAS DONE AN EXCELLENT JOB OF BRINGING THEIR COMICS AND STAN LEE’S CHARACTERS TO LIFE IN FULL LENGTH MOVIES!
I AM 56 YRS OLD AND I KNOW ALL THE CHARACTERS AND STORIES BY HEART. I COULD READ WHEN I WAS 4 YRS. OLD AND GUESS WHAT STORIES I READ FIRST: COMIC BOOKS! -FROM “SUPERMAN”, TO “THE HULK”, TO “TALES OF ASGARD”.
WHEN CASTING FOR A “SUPERHERO”, THERE ARE A FEW THINGS TO CONSIDER,…AND THESE THINGS ARE REAL IN EVERYDAY LIFE.
1.) THE VISUAL SIGHT OF LOOKING AT SOMEONE/THE SUPERHERO. DOES HE/SHE LOOK LIKE THEY CAN DO WHAT IS BEING CLAIMED? DO THEY LOOK LIKE THEY HAVE PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL AND MENTAL “POWER”?
2.) THEIR VOICE. WHEN ONE FIRST WALKS INTO A CROWDED ROOM OF PEOPLE, THE FIRST THING ONE NOTICES IS “PHYSICAL PRESENCE”,…HOW ANOTHER PERSON LOOKS. THE SECOND THING - AFTER APPROACHING - IS: WHEN THEY OPEN THEIR MOUTH AND “SPEAK”! IS THERE POWER, KNOWLEDGE FROM EXPERIENCE AND WISDOM?
3.) IS THIS PERSON “CONNECTED” AND “CARING”? LET’S FACE IT. ANY PERSON WITH SUPERPOWERS AND BECOMES A “SUPERHERO” MUST HAVE SOME “CONNECTED AFFINITY” WITH ALL OF US HUMAN BEINGS IN SOME WAY OR ANOTHER. OTHERWISE, THEY WOULD NOT WANT TO HELP OR “SAVE” US!
4.) WHEN CASTING,…WE CAN GO WITH AN “UNKNOWN” OR WE CAN GO WITH A KNOWN STAR. WE ARE MORE LIKELY TO THINK OF AND PRE-JUDGE A KNOWN STAR,…SIMPLY BECAUSE WE KNOW THEM AND HAVE SEEN THEM BEFORE IN OTHER MOVIES OR IN REAL LIFE. THIER PHYSICAL APPEARANCE, LOOKS, VOICE AND “PRESENCE” MAY BE CORRECT - BUT WE ALL, AS THE AUDIENCE,…WILL MOST DEFINITELY JUDGE THIS MOVIE BY THIS “KNOWN STAR” - RATHER THAN THE MOVIE ON IT’S OWN MERIT.
TOO BAD. BUT THAT’S THE WAY THIS MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY WORKS.
MY PERSONAL VOTE IS TO ALWAYS GET AN “UNKNOWN” TO BE A SUPERHERO.
5.) ANY ACTOR/ACTRESS CHOSEN IS GOING TO INSTANTLY BECOME A REAL-LIFE SUPERSTAR!!! HE/SHE MUST BE PREPARED AND ALSO FIT INTO: “LIFE AFTER THE MOVIE”. THE TOURS, THE INTERVIEWS, THE PUBLIC APPEARANCES,…AND SO ON.
6.) SO THE PEOPLE THAT CAST THIS OR ANY “SUPERHERO” MOVIE HAVE A RESPONSIBLITY TO THE MOVIE,…THE AUDIENCE,…AND TO THE PEOPLE THEY CAST.
7.) THOR MUST BE BELIEVABLE !!!!!!!- IN EVERY WAY - PHYSICALLY, EMOTIONALLY, MENTALLY AND SPIRITUALLY. SOMEONE IS OUT THERE TO BRING OUR DREAMS OF THOR-THE GOD OF THUNDER, ALIVE!!!
I AM ALSO WRITING A BOOK AND MOVIE SCRIPT - BOTH CONNECTED - AND THESE ARE ISSUES I MUST QUESTION AND ANSWER EVERY DAY.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND KIND
UNDERSTANDING,…
NOAH
I think that Brad Pitt should definatly play the role as Thor. People think of Thor as being big and muscular, but I think that they should go another way, take Superman for example, VERY strong,VERY powerful,yes, big and bulky with muscle,no. i would definatly like to see someone of average size get out ther and kick some ass like the Incredible Hulk.
You know who else could play Thor, Paul telfer, dude is ripped and not that big and bulky he played hercules in 2005, and hephaestian in the young alexander, if they wanted a semi muscular dude for the part, but I still think Brad Pitt would be the best most experienced actor for the role.
Okay, here’s my two cents and this coming from a guy who has illustrated a Thor Annual (19) for Marvel Comics. SEE http://www.comicartist.net
Christopher Campbell made a compelling and logical argument as to why Brad should play Thor when he referred to the combination of abilities. It isn’t enough to cast Thor with some muscle bound, talentless Austrian with a lisp. The presence, star power, and acting talent take precedence over mere size. And Brad is not 5ft 8 as someone pointed out, but rather, 5ft 11-just 1 inch shy of 6 foot. And have you seen Troy? Brad is quite buf with just enough size to convince us he’s no slouch and he is blessed with an aesthetic symmetry that mirrors the beautiful form (no I’m not gay) of Thor from the seventies illustrated by Buscema. Truth is, Thor is presented with various musculatures depending on the artist who drew him and you shouldn’t sacrifice talent and star power for some hulking brute who can’t pronounce his own name-unless, of course, you don’t give a rip as to the box office success of this film. Yes, Butler would be an excellent choice and the rage of Thor as the warrior born would be there, but Butler isn’t pretty enough as his features do not present with features as classic as Pitt’s and he isn’t naturally blond. So Butler has the talent but not the look despite his physique. Brad, on the other hand, has it all-the buf, the look, the talent, and the star power-everything Butler has plus one. As for height and bulk, the X-Men movies cast Jackman as the short Wolverine and Jackman is 6ft 2. Now really, can you imagine anyone other than Jackman playing the part? No Way!!! How about Jack Black as Wolverine simply because his stature fills the bill? You get my point.
You totally missed my point, I just think that they should go with a smaller dude that is very strong does’nt have to be Brad, just someone that has good acting skills and can pull it off, that’s all that I meant.
While people are throwing actors name in to the mix why don’t they consider the dude that played sawyer in “lost” josh holloway, he’d need to bulk up for the role though much like gerald butler did for 300.
we could also consider triple H or edge to play the role as well ahahahahahahahaaha