Cool News
Titus Pullo, Genghis Khan and The Vampire Lestat To Play Volstagg, Hogun and Fandral In Marvel’s THOR!!
I am – Hercules!!
Watching the gorgeous new “Rome” Blu-ray set over the weekend, I found myself pondering what the great Ray Stevenson, who played the fighty Titus Pullo, has been up to since that last “Punisher” movie. Turns out Stevenson’s been making “The Other Guys” with Will Ferrell and Adam McKay and will now play the hammer wielder’s fighty and fat associate Volstagg the Valiant in “Thor.”
Also just cast are Stuart Townsend (who’s inherited at least three other iconic roles over the last seven years – namely Dorian Gray, The Vampire Lestat and Carl Kolchak) as Fandral and Tadanobu Asano (“Mongol”) as Hogun the Grim.
They join Chris Hemsworth (“Star Trek”) as Thor, Tom Hiddleston ("Cranford") as Loki, Anthony Hopkins as Odin and Natalie Portman as Jane.
Sam Jackson may be back as Nick Fury too.
Kenneth Branagh directs from a screenplay by Mark Protosevich (“Poseidon,” “I Am Legend”) and Zack Stentz & Ashley Miller (“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” “Fringe”).
Filming gets underway in January in anticipation of Paramount's May 20, 2011 release.
Find all of Variety’s story on the matter here.
Follow Herc on Twitter!!
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Glad to hear Stevenson is taking on another (probably) Pullo-esque role. Now here's hoping they don't put him in a body suit (a la Kevin Durand in Wolverine) and just let him do his thing.
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Nov 17, 2009 10:21:13 PM CST
So that's what Thor's been doing while BIG LOB WORKS.
by gibsonusa returns
Motherfu...
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Wasn't that supposed to be a trilogy?
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You guys are always so behind every other news site I frequent. Its the reason I always come here last.
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it's going to be in tomorrow's Variety!
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-- That's the best comeback you could come up with? Just because Variety hasn't reported it yet doesn't mean it's not old news.
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I came across as really rude. Sorry. If I didn't like this site I wouldn't come here at all. I like the dvd reviews.
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but it's definitely been up on alot of sites since early this morning. AICN is slipping...
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Nov 17, 2009 10:38:35 PM CST
BIG LOB should be in the background swimming across....
by gibsonusa returns
...with the horse on his back!!
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Saw it on Twitchfilms the other night first.
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As has been said - people come back to AICN for the talkbacks, not the timeliness of the reports
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I mean, does not having this news early hinder your ability to order Chinese for one and buy your comic books? Really?Thanks AICN for bringing me enjoyable entertainment news! I appreciate this free service! Thanks for covering things other sites don't care about! It's appreciated!
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We're a bunch of depressed malcontents who need someone/something to rag on to get out the frustration of failing in life. Is this news to you?
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Touche, my friend. Touche. THIS NEWS SHOULD HAVE BEEN HERE DAYS AGO!! AICN SUCKS!! :-D
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Nov 17, 2009 11:05:27 PM CST
Now that actually made me smile. Well done, Mr. Butthole.
by juansanchez
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Who is going to be cast for the mini-series on HBO ? and have you finished the book yet ?
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Nov 17, 2009 11:54:32 PM CST
Only Thor would dare to ride a horse looking like that
by anything but tangerines
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Yay! I miss that guy... too bad he's been in not so good films... hopefully he won't suck. :)
Still pissed though that A. Skarsgard didn't get the part of Thor... *HURMPH!* -
I hope Marvel & Branaugh knock it out of the park!BTW, didn't I post about this 24 hrs ago in the "Medium Back On Top" thread? But, I am glad Herc posted all the info here. You guys need to cut Herc some slack regarding posting geek news in a timely manner, he's just discovered Supernatural and is having trouble prying himself away from Season 1-4 Blu-Rays!
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Up its fucking ass. I want Cap casting news.
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So strange that KB was all about the character, was he a fan of the comics, or the norse lore?
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And, Tom Cruise was going to be in a movie with him....
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So nice to see Marvel really paying attention to all aspects of their movies. Gods knows we've seen too many crappy adaptations from other studios.
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To be one of the best comic movies of all time. Thor is fun and powerful and has a lot of good mythology to the story. Thor has been around for a long time also so hopefully the story will be one of the better ones from the comics. I'm excited about seeing the Hammer being thrown and hopefully some cool shots of Asgard and Odin and all the stuff that goes with it. To many comic movies spend to much time talking and doing back stories and dont have enough cool encounters and fights and duels. Thor should have a lot of these things and less of the talking that weighs movies down and makes them boring when they dont have to be.
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Jeez people! If he didn't report it (it being horrendously old and whatnot) then you'd be bitching about how he didn't post it! Calm the smurf down.
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That is all.For now.
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No way. Skarsgård?
Dolph as Thor! Max von Sydow as Odin. -
To each his own I guess. The thing with Skarsgard as opposed to someone like Dolph is that he can actually act lol, so the movie could still retain that level of credibility instead of just being a second rate fanboy flick.
That and he's tall, 6'5" if I'm not mistaken and Swedish. So accents shouldn't be a problem for him.
Anyways watch the episode of TrueBlood that has the flashback of him as a Viking and you'll see why I think he would've rocked.
Karl Urban would've been good too however. -
It seemed to me that Marvel always veers the storylines in the comics slightly towards the movies. To draw in movie-goers who maybe have never read a comic before.
Since Odin is in the movie, they'll probably have to undo a shit load of the Thor storyline. Loki goes back to being a male? Odin returns? Thor loses the Odin-force? Asguard goes back to its original location? -
I'm not to familiar with the Thor comic book mythology, but being Scandinavian I have some knowledge about the acctual norse mythology. If I remember correctly, Volstagg, Fandral and Hogun ware secret identities used by Thor, Balder (?) and Loki when roaming middle earth.
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Never saw Punisher, but he was fantastic in Rome and is very suited for this kind of film.
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Thor is often described as red haired, and thats why Volstagg also sports red hair. The same goes for Fandral and Hogun (who isn't really meant to by asian.. but whatever..).
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Just bought the Rome season 1 box set for 11 euros.....what a great deal. Watched the whole series over the weekend. Too bad they couldn't get the guy who plays Vorenus for the Thor movie. Pullo and Vorenus were great together. Pullo's shenanigans balanced Vorenus' seriousnous perfectly.
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...be asian that is...
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...be asian that is...
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Nov 18, 2009 3:13:54 AM CST
All the news here is never OLD to me!
by player_two_has_entered_the_game
Because I don't surf the fucking net 24/7 looking for it! Give it a fucking rest with all this "It's days old" news please! Some of us come here and catch up on what has been going on throughout the week and don't monitor the stories on other sites and who has posted what first on a daily basis.
Player two has left the game -
If it's new to BIG LOB, it's NEW.
If BIG LOB doesn't know you, you're not famous.
Who cares if some other sites had it this morning, or earlier? Odds are most of us aren't going to see it, because we dont cycle through entertainment pages over and over again. Even as a "summary" site this page allows for centralized access to movie news. -
His script for I AM LEGEND was complete ass!! Thank goodness it wa snot used. Sadly, too much of it was recycled for the Big Willy's mess that was IALINO.
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Nov 18, 2009 3:24:00 AM CST
I really wish you guys would post pics of these actors
by professor_monster
-- it would be so much better to see who you are talking about while we read it.
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The movie is completely ridiculous in both good and bad ways, but Stevenson rises above everything. He would be perfect just because of the way he looks, towering over everybody else, but somehow he brings so much soul to the movie. There is no reason to feel for this maniac, he's going around murdering people and none of the characters have any depth to them at all, but the sadness in his eyes and the poetry in his voice makes me believe in him. I'm not kidding, that is just a great performance. I'd watch that guy in anything now, even a movie where he's flying around with a blond haired guy with a hammer fighting spiderman or whatever.
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Nov 18, 2009 3:31:47 AM CST
Great to know Ray Stevenson is getting more high profile work
by asimovlives
I didn't knew him before i watched Rome. Afterwards i was a fan. This guy is a really talented actor. He's this rare beast, a true Shakespearean theater trained actor who's build like an ox and who could be as easily playing in the theater or doing action and be completly convincing in both. This guy is the real deal. This guy should be huge.
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Greeting, O Venerable One! And if you loved Ray Stevenson in that silly (but strangely enjoyable) Punisher movie, you will absolutly love him in Rome, where he not only had a great character to play, but he was allowe many chances to emote on various different emotions, sometimes in the same scene. God, how i love Rome! If you really liked Ray Stevenson because of Punisher, you will be a true believer with Rome.
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Never struck me as Asian - ever...Sebastian Chabal, a French rugby player would have been perfect for this role. Stevenson is a better choice to play Hogun, but...
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Imdb lists Alexander Skarsgård as 6'4", and Dolph as 6'5". They're both Swedish.
With his decades long experiences in front of the camera and his IQ, I'm sure Dolph can act when given a proper screenplay and a competent director. With Stallone, Van Damme, Rourke, and all the other action stars returning now, it would be great to see him get a real comeback. I mean, the guy is doing The Expendables at least.
Also, he's got a screen presence that Skarsgård doesn't have, being both built and older.
I somehow don't see vikings worshipping a 30-something god of thunder.
As for Max von Sydow, he's a better actor than Anthony Hopkins, and he's Swedish, instead of Brittish. Why would the supreme Norse God be born in Wales? -
And his constant pointless chatter about "BIG LOB" doing shit? What does it mean? I'd assume it was an AICN joke like chocolate covered pussy juice or that guy who didn't "plus 1" for the Wolverine movie, but that particular guy is the only one who says it. Just wondering (BTW it is very annoying and if there is not a good reason for it, it should stop).
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Nov 18, 2009 4:05:16 AM CST
I never cared for Thor but i'm quite interested in this movie
by asimovlives
And mostly it's due to the choice of the director, Kenneth Brannagh, and the cast he's collecting. If Brannagh can pull for Thor what Favreu did for Iron Man, i'll be a happy camper indeed. If, by the gods' will, he pulls a Batman Begins, i'll be on heaven. I'm not even asking for TDK, i don't take such excelency for granted.
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Go fuck yourself
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He punches a dude through the head!
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Now there's something I never thought I'd see.
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nothing else matters
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Is awesome. Can't believe he's not a big shot action hero.
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THIRTEEN! THIRTEEN!
Ribbons, yeah that gladiator pit sequence from ROME was the single best bit of TV in the Noughties imho. -
Nov 18, 2009 6:55:23 AM CST
Fuck! I agree with AsimovLives for once.
by isleptwithkathybatesandallthatigotwasthi
"He's this rare beast, a true Shakespearean theater trained actor who's build like an ox and who could be as easily playing in the theater or doing action and be completly convincing in both."True!
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Nov 18, 2009 7:35:00 AM CST
The only thing keeping me interested in this is
by grammaton cleric binks
Kenneth Branagh. I will see this because he's an awesome actor/director. I hope this does well enough for a Beta-Ray Bill centered sequel.
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(who’s inherited at least three other iconic roles over the last seven years – namely Dorian Gray, The Vampire Lestat and Carl Kolchak)"--- and he was terrible as every one of those characters. Actually, I'm just assuming he was terrible as Kolchack because who the fuck bothered watching the new Night Stalker series?
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the Thor version of Lois and Clark
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Loved that guy in Rom. I hope he gets a shitload of more roles.
Also, I heard that the bearded British ox known as Brian Blessed is playing Odin ,and NOT Anthony Hopkins...?
PS. If you read this forum Mr Jackson, please cast Brian Blessed in The Hobbit as one of the Dwarves, he is beyond perfect for the role of Thorin Oakenshield. -
Nov 18, 2009 8:24:52 AM CST
PWZ = forgettable. Stevenson as Punisher = excellent.
by kevin holsinger
I'm really stunned at how much Marvel seems to be throwing at this movie, given how risky it is.Just hope it's not like Hellboy 2...everybody who sees it loves it, but it gets outgrossed by Meet the Spartans.
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Ignore above comment.
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but still can't fuck with Dolph.As for Rome, my friend had lend me a copy of the first 2 episodes but i never got around to it. So many options, so little time.
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I like Stevenson, but aren't there any actual fat guys they could have cast instead?
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Or pretty much anyone who has ever played Falstaff on stage? Surely Kenny must know a few. I like Ray though. I hope he does a good job.
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Had no clue Ray was trained in Shakespearean stagecraft. Kudos on great casting.
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...I hope for Stuart's sake he is not replaced by Viggo at the last minute, poor sod. Although having said that he is banging Charlize Theron which I am sure more than compensates...
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These characters never change and I guess they can''t change because they're gods of something or other. Anyway they do their same schick over and over and it stopped being fresh twenty years ago.
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Isn't he like Mongol or something?
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But the idea of warriors living in Asgard is an accurate adaptation of Nordic folklore. Odin is sometimes accompanied by "einjarfar" (or something to that affect), valiant human warriors hand picked by himself and his Valkaries to fight on his side at Ragnorok. I don't read Thor comics, though, so I'm not sure what their origin is there. I'm pretty curious, though. Could someone please enlighten me? Thanks!
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...and still be faithful to the Ultimates storyline is if there is a "twist" ending in which Nick Fury goes to a mental hospital in modern times and visits Thor in a comatose state, as if his subconscious self is transported back home during the whole action, but we just assume he's mental. That way the audience, along with the characters, wouldn't know for sure whether or not Thor is actually powerful or just delusional, adding tension to the whole "can he save the world" bit at the end of the Avengers.
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Stevenson tore it up in that movie. Completely won me over, and probably left Thomas Jane hanging his head in shame.
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Thor needs to be a tall motherfucker. And the fat Warrior, Volstagg, needs to sit on somebody sometime during the course of this movie. That's what that obese green dandy does - sits on people. Also, he needs to be shown mauling a giantic turkey drumstick. Make it happen Kenneth.
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Much cooler to have a hulking, grizzled lantern-jawed God of Thunder instead of some freshfaced youth godling. Still think Skarsgård would have been a lot more interesting than Kirk's dad. Egentlig skulle Thor bli spilt av en norsk suespiller, ikke sant?
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And not like the ridiculous bloated figure from the comics. Why would they clothe a pantheon from the dark ages in the silky draperies of the renaissance? And in pink! I bet Brannagh will fix that clothing misconception drastically.
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as soon as possible. Miniseries would be best, but I'll take anything really. I'd kill to see Uhtred and Ragnar in action.
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...has managed to publish it almost as quick as you. Not exactly something I'd be pointing to as a sign at just how efficient you are in your news gathering efforts (because let's face it, you guys sure as shit don't break any news much these days).That said, I do agree that Stevenson is fantastic, and the more high profile work he gets the better in my book.
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Sure she is one hot little piece of Kosher ass; but the woman did her best work at 12...it has been all down hill since.With luck her part is small and won't detract from the professionalism of the rest of the cast.
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The Warriors Three in Marvel comics are Asgardians, there not the "gods", but all Asgardians are actually an alien race and not actual "gods" per se. All Asgardians have super strength and endurance, just not as much as the major gods such as Thor, Loki, Odin, Balder etc... And How can anyone NOT think Hogun is asian in the comics he looks so much like a Mongolian its ridiculous:P and i cannot BELIEVE they got one of my favorite Japanese actors working today to play him in my FAVORITE comic book hero movie, so AWESOME!!!
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Nov 18, 2009 10:43:45 AM CST
Your Thor, I'm tho thor I won't be able to piss for a week!
by nomoredirtyjokespleaseweareyanks
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Pun me!
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You are comparing how quick you are to Variety?? The majority of the news on this site comes from HR or Variety.
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Thanks man! I'm guessing your a fellow fan of Scandinavian lore by the name.
Cheers! -
has to be my favorite fictional character ever. why more people haven't watched ROME is beyond me. FUCKING PONDEROUS!
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You better believe it, i am a lazy follower of Old Norse Paganism otherwise known as Asatru in today's day and age:P
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is this the new website?
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See my comments on the mythology above. Og nej, det finns ingen anledning att välja en norrbagge, Tor är lika mycket vår! Dessutom bör han ju spelas av en riktig karl ;).
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...I vaguely remember reading about them within the context of actual Norse mythology, but just wasn't quite sure how the Marvel universe had reinterpreted that. Berserkr explained it for me, though.
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We will ever see a depiction of Thor's goat-led chariot or Odin's multi-legged horse on screen. That would be all kinds of awesome!
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has Townsend done anything worthwhile? I think not.
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Happens. Sometimes you're the first, sometimes you aren't. Not like it's days old or anything, and at least most of the time it's fairly accurate, and quickly updated or tagged as rumor if not. Rather that than constant spoilers that are wrong more than right. Plus, I don't exactly spend all my time here, so even if it's old, it's new to me. As you can see by my posting this long after everyone else has moved on to complaining about something else.
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Not sites. Darn auto-correction. And lack of edit.
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Dammit.
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The Asgardians as aleins in the Marvel Universe is not the solid concrete view. They are supposed to be descendents of the "Elder Gods" just like Olympians and othe pantheons. Jack Kirby infused a lot of science fiction into them and that is where the aliens thing starts. The Asgardians not being gods was a plot point to the Earth X story line which exists outside of regular Marvel continuity.
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I could See Odins horse Sleipnir making it too film, i HIGHLY suggest pic up the 3 Matt Fraction Thor one shot comics, Thor: Ages of Thunder #1, Thor: Reign of Blood #1, Thor: Man of War #1
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looks like the Marvel lore is just and convuluted as the original stories are.
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I will make it a point to try and hunt those down!
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I mean the name vik comes from the fjords on the coast of Norway...you don't really have fjords in Sweden. You do have some excellent actors though, we have a few too now. Svenskeradd.
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I wanted Tadanobu Asano as the Mandarin and they should've kept The Punisher intact, hate that they're using the same actor. It sounds like a bullshit story to me.
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Ray Stevenson can play both Frank Castle AND Volstagg, I don't see why Tadanobu Asano can't play Hogun AND The Mandarin.
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I don't think any of those characters would end up being together in The Avengers film.
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I hope they don't go the female mandarin route like in the invicinble iron man dtv cartoon.
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Nov 18, 2009 3:47:46 PM CST
Olivia Munn ... Melina Vostokoff / Iron Maiden
by rene_belloq_12inch_figure
from IMDB
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Vikings were Norwegian, Swedish(Geats) and Danish(Danes)
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Makes more sense.
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Yep, this was the role he was born for. I would even exorcise that God-awful He man movie he made if he was on board this one as the blonde winged helmeted wonder.
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He couldn't save the punisher flick, but he deserves to be in lots of movies.
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..good to look at but damn if she ain't a annoying co host. She should jjust learn to shut dafuckup sometimes. damn Gwhore.
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Do you know a swedish word for fjord? Guess... Vik! And you know, the "Asatru" is scandinavian, not Norwegian. In fact Norway really didnt exist back then did it (and neither did Sweden). Me myself am reised on the island of Frej (the harvest god) in the middle of Sweden, 300 km from the nearest fjord... This area has belonged to norway (or more correctly Denmark) from time to time, but that only supports my point - were all Scandinavian, and so is the mighty Thor!
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If the above dont really make sense (because youre right, we dont have any real fjords, but neither does denmark, and there are prominent "vikings" from sweden as well as denmark - its just a name) what I meant to say is that the Asa faith is bigger than the vikings. You do know that the biggest asa cult place in all of scandinavia was in Uppsala right?
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Tack för det! :) Nice to see some scandinavians in the know here. But we should stick together! Ok? Let's all bow down to our Aussie God of thunder!
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with Skarsgard, instead of a 6'4 Scandinavian! actor who has proven he can act, we get a 6' foot American who has only been in the first 10 minutes of the new trek film!:P
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are that well known in the west: The vikings from the Swedish area of Scandinavia usually went east. By some people they were called "Rus", yes people in the area now called Russia.
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typoooo
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He's an 6'3 aussie, but yeah I agree ;)
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I guess thats a little better than, Daddy Skarsgard is still in the film though, if not Odin who is he?:P
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As is Vorenus, I believe. I'll try and remember where I read about them.
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6'3" Aussie? No, I'm pretty sure he's 6'4" and was actually born in Sweden... Could be wrong, but that's what I've always thought.
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I WANT ETHIER CHRIS PINE OR John Barrowman
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TELL ME!
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I agree that Pine would be a great choice, but cmon, having the guy play both Captain Kirk and Captain America would be a little much.
It reminds me of when everyone thought Jim Caviezel was going to play Superman after he had played Jesus lol. It would just me a little much. -
I was saying Hemsworth is a 6'3" Aussie ;)
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Cant help myself, but do you all know that "Thursday" comes from the scandinavian "Torsdag" (Thor's day)?
And did you know that Windows was invented by the vikings? The Word acctually comes from the word "vindue", meaning wind eye; a hole in the roof to let smoke out.
And yeah, we also invented Russia... Sorry... -
I'm with Vern on this. Punisher: War Zone was total choad but he was fantastic, and not just because he shared the screen with three of the worst performances of the year (Dominic West, Dash Mihok and Colin Salmon). This will work great. How much screentime will he get, though? This is a crowded cast.
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Without Russia we would have no Ivan Drago vs Rocky ultra fight of the century. Also they were great target practice for Rambo. If not for Russia we wouldn't have been able to steal Sean Connery and a kickass submarine,
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Yeah, doesn't the word "Russia" actually translate over into some ancient slavic word for Viking?
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Nevermind, I was reading the talkback backwards. I see you've already mentioned that.
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I don't care how old he is.
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but that wouldn't be a bad choice. Ryan McPartlin, Armie Hammer, or Jason Lewis would all be ideal for Cap,though..and wouldn't be needing a walker for any of the sequels.
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Problem solved.
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Method acting, hunh?
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IS A OLD MAN. HE WOULD HOWEVER MAKE A GREAT WONDERMAN
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