Hi-Sci-Fi

When we announced that film version of popular comic, Thor, is about to enter production, I was deliriously happy. Thor was one of my favorites, simply because he was a deity who hung around superheroes. And he was handsome, blond, tall and Scandinavian, all of which I find to be relative qualities of hotness.

Kenneth Branagh, the man who did so much Shakespeare that he was easily confused with Henry this and that for decades, will be directing.

Now, the casting has begun, and I am slightly taken aback by the choice of actor who will portray Thor himself: Chris Hemsworth has been confirmed as the lead for the film.

You may remember him as the jowly, all American, beefy dad of Captain Kirk in the new Abrams version of Star Trek. As in, not wildly Scandianvian, but merely blond and muscular, as if imported straight from a McDonalds or Manwich commercial.

I am thoroughly disappointed. And the filming hasn’t begun yet.

When I say Scandinavian, I mean Dolph Lundgren, or members of the Europe doing the Final Countdown. I do not, I repeat, not expect someone like Chris Hemsworth to come along for the ride.

My hopes that the film will dip into other than all-American social pools for casting have diminished greatly.

Release date for Thor has been set for May 20, 2011.