This is the first Marvel movie to introduce the world to the blond, hammer-wielding Viking god.
Summary
-As punishment for his arrogance, Thor is cast out of Asgard to live in Midgard (Earth), where he ends up being a protector of the people
-Chris Hemsworth: Thor
-Natalie Portman: Jane Foster
-Stellan Skarsgard: Dr. Erik Selvig
-Tom Hiddleston: Loki
-Anthony Hopkins: Odin
-Kat Dennings: Darcy Lewis
-Clark Gregg: Agent Coulson
-Colm Feore: King Laufey
-Idris Elba: Heimdall
-Ray Stevenson: Volstagg
-Tadanobu Asano: Hogun
-Josh Dallas: Fandral
-Jaimie Alexander: Sif
-Rene Russo: Frigga
-The choice for the role of Thor came down to brothers Chris Hemsworth and his brother Liam. Chris found it hysterical and responded, "We both came all the way over here from Australia and ended up battling against each other." He had no ill will towards his brother and claims he was rooting for him to get the role
-In the first part of the movie, Dr. Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) mentions he had a friend who got involved with S.H.I.E.L.D. who was a pioneer in gamma radiation. This is a reference to Bruce Banner, whose experiments with gamma radiation led to him becoming the Incredible Hulk
-To prepare for his role as Loki, Tom Hiddleston had to undergo a strict diet so he would have a thin, but muscular body
-Idris Elba, who plays Heimdall, prepared for the role by reading the Thor comics where Heimdall was featured. "He's a very central character, and I wanted to reflect him as he is in the comic books", said Elba
-Chris Hemsworth underwent a massive amount of weightlifting exercises to build up the necessary amount of muscle for his role as Thor. He spent six months of trips to the gym and a diet of protein drinks, brown rice, vegetables and other protein-building foods
-What got Sir Anthony Hopkins interested in the role of Odin was the father-son relationship, despite knowing nothing about the comics or Viking mythology
-Because he was uncomfortable wearing the heavy helmet Loki is known for wearing and it was hard to see out of, Tom Hiddleston used his anger and frustration towards the scenes where Loki is in battle
-An entire town was set up as the location for this movie in Galisteo, New Mexico
-When Tom Hiddleston discovered he'd been cast as Loki, he was in a North London pub and caused an uproar by screaming out loud
-Sir Kenneth Brannaugh, who was the director of the movie, had been a huge fan of the Thor comics as a child. When Marvel Studios chose him to direct this film, they sent him the complete collection of Thor comics to use as reference material
-Tom Hiddleston trained in the Brazilian martial art of capoeira to prepare for his role of Loki
-This was Rene Russo's first film in six years. It took convincing from her daughter to take a role in this film
-When Thor's hammer Mjolnir is thrown out of Asgard and lands in New Mexico, it is reminiscent of Fantastic Four comic #536. In that comic, an apocalyptic event occurs in Asgard and as a result, Mjolnir was thrown out of Asgard, landing in Oklahoma, where it lay until Thor comes to retrieve it
-This makes highly extensive use of Norse mythology, where the whole Thor comics were based
- The war between the Asgardians and Jotunns mirrors the Aesir-Vanir war (The Jotunns were a non-hostile group of people)
- Odin's ravens Huginn and Muninn, who represent thought and memory, gather information from Midgard (Earth) and relay it to Odin. The ravens are sitting on Odin's throne during Thor's coronation
- The symbol seen on Mjolnir and the weapons vault is a religious symbol called a triquetra. It's related to the valknut, a German symbol related to Odin
- The Bifrost Bridge was thought of as a rainbow by the Norse. It's shown as a beam of rainbow light
- The golden observatory that Heimdall is seen in is based on Himinbjorg, the place Heimdall calls home
- A Jotun calls Thor a "little princess". This comes from a time when Thor's hammer was stolen and he had to dress as the goddess of love, Freya, to retrieve it
- Fandral (Josh Dallas) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) describe Loki as mischievous and a liar. This is an homage to Loki's title as the god of mischief and lies
- Thor asks for a cat to ride. Frigga (Rene Russo), Thor's mother, has her chariot pulled by two large blue cats
- Thor shows an image to Jane Foster (Natalie Portman). This image is of a crossroad with nine orbs on it, what he considers to be the representation of Yggdrasil, a huge tree around which the nine worlds revolve, making up the universe
-When Sir Kenneth Branagh started planning this movie, he imagined it being as a twist on William Shakespeare's Henry V, which centered around a young king undergoing trials of all sorts: courting a girl from another land, fighting a war, trying to live up to the example set by his father
-When Tom Hiddleston got the role of Loki, he did massive research into the character. He wanted to make Loki multi-dimensional. He brought facets from three different actors for his role: Jack Nicholson (edgy, almost nearly insane), Peter O'Toole (enigmatic, nearly reckless) and Clint Eastwood (simmering anger)
-In the scene where Jane Foster follows Thor out of the restaurant to go to the crater site, there is a water tower seen in the distance that reads "Welcome. Home of the Vikings"
-There is a scene in the movie showing Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) doing research in the library on Norse mythology. There is an illustration of Odin walking across the Bifrost Bridge with his prized Gungnir spear and Tesseract in his hands. In 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger, The Red Skull says that the Tesseract was the main jewel of Odin's treasure room
-In the scene where Thor is attempting to recover Mjolnir, there is an agent who grabs a bow and arrow. His name is Agent Barton. This is Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), who is better known as the highly accurate archer Hawkeye. He becomes a prominent founding member of The Avengers
-Thor's nickname meant "protector of mankind" in Norse mythology. To this day, Scandinavians wear small charms that look like Mjolnir and are called "torshammare" (Thor's Hammers)
-Chris Hemsworth had bulked up so much muscle prior to the screen test that the original costume didn't fit. It had started cutting off circulation in his arms and legs when he tried it on for the first time
-One of the actors considered for the role of Thor was Alexander Skargard, because of his physical appearance
-Action coordinators experimented with different fighting styles until they found one that worked for Thor. It was based on boxing: big, powerful hip movements and low stance to the ground
-After this movie, Tom Hiddleston became a fan of comic books, especially Loki
-Three actual physicists, Sean Carroll, Kevin Hand and Jim Hartle, were brought in to provide a realistic, scientific source of information for this movie.
-About an hour into the movie, Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) asks Thor if he ever had any Special Forces training. In real life, Hemsworth was trained by a former Navy S.E.A.L. for the role of Thor
-Other people considered for the role of Thor included Brad Pitt, WWE wrestler Paul Levesque, aka "Triple H", Daniel Craig (who was the initial choice), Charlie Hunnam (known for playing Jaxson "Jax" Teller on Sons of Anarchy).
-Tadanobu Asano, who plays Hogun, is of partial Norwegian ancestry. He felt like it was required for him to work on a film centered around Norse mythology
-When Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) is researching the history of Thor, he finds that "Thursday" is derived from "Thor's Day". In the Norwegian, Danish and Swedish languages, all of the days of the week are derived from Norse mythology. Tuesday is tirsdag (Tyr's day), Wednesday is onsdag (Odin's day), Friday is fredag (Frey's day). Sunday and Monday are Sol and Mane (the sun and moon). Saturday is lordag, derived from laugardag, or washing day
-This is only the second comic book film for Natalie Portman after 2005's V for Vendetta
-Jim Carrey and Josh Hartnett were considered for the role of Loki. Jim Carrey, however, was considered for the role initially because of his role in The Mask (1994), which references the Norse god of mischief, Loki
-Chris Hemsworth had extensive experience wielding a hammer, as he had worked as a builder in Australia for a short time
-Anthony Hopkins (Odin) improvised the loud growl at Loki prior to banishing Thor
-The town used for this film was the same modernized set used for 1985's Silverado
-Despite appearing in mostly Japanese movies based on anime and manga comics, this is the first American comic film for Tadanobu Asano (Hogun)
-Stellan Skarsgard's son Gustaf plays a descendant of Loki named Floki on the 2013 TV show Vikings
-In the scene where Thor is strapped to the hospital bed, the doctor's name is Zepfel. This is a nod to one of the production managers, Don Zepfel
-In the comics, Thor's alter ego was Donald Blake.
-Ironically, Stellan Skarsgard doesn't believe in Norse mythology, as he is an atheist
-Natalie Portman was considered for the role of Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, but the role went to Scarlett Johansson
-This is only Ray Stevenson's second comic book film. The first was 2008's The Punisher: War Zone
-Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman both appeared in the new Star Trek and Star Wars movies. Chris Hemsworth appeared in 2009's Star Trek, playing George Kirk, father to James T. Kirk. Natalie Portman appeared in the new Star Wars movies, playing Luke Skywalker's mother
-Jamie Dornan, best known as billionaire Christian Grey in the Fifty Shades of Grey series, had auditioned for a role in this movie
-There are differences between the actual Norse mythology and this movie's version of Norse mythology
- Odin lost an eye in battle with the Jotuns. In real Norse mythology, he gave up an eye to gain cosmic wisdom
- In Norse mythology, Loki is Odin's adopted brother, not Thor's
- Laufey was the mother of Loki, not the father (which is ironic given that Laufey is a popular female name in Iceland)
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