Natalie Portman Joining Thor?

More casting buzz and a new release date.

by Jim Vejvoda

March 16, 2009 - Star Wars veteran Natalie Portman is reportedly the front runner to play the female lead in Paramount-Marvel's Thor movie, to be directed by Kenneth Branagh. Thor has shifted release dates again -- from June 16, 2011 to May 20, 2011 -- in order to make room for Paramount's newly announced Transformers 3.

Deadline Hollywood Daily doesn't state which female character from the Thor/Marvel universe she'd play. The site also claims that Marvel is considering Josh Hartnett to play either Thor or his half-brother and archenemy Loki; earlier reports claimed that Hartnett was only in the running for the villain role.

DHD adds that there is a "powerful lobby" seeking to cast unknowns for the roles of Thor and Loki, claiming that "the following actors are being tested: Charlie Hunnam (the British co-star of the F/X series Sons of Anarchy); Tom Hiddleston (award-winning British actor and RADA graduate who played Winston Churchill's son in HBO's The Gathering Storm), Alexander Skarsgård (Stellan's son who has appeared in the HBO Iraq War miniseries Generation Kill and vampire drama True Blood, and who's definitely visually right for the role), Liam Hemsworth (offered a significant role in The Expendables after Sly Stallone saw his tape), and Joel Kinnaman (some Danish dude)."

- BBC

Tom Hiddleston (L) with Kenneth Branagh in Wallander.

English actor Tom Hiddleston, 28, starred opposite Branagh in the Masterpiece Mystery! series Wallander and the HBO telepic Conspiracy, as well as on-stage in last fall's production of Chekhov's Ivanov. Hiddleston's bio at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art says he stands 6'2" and is certified in stage combat. He won the Laurence Olivier Award last year as Best Newcomer in a Play for his performance in Cymbeline.

In addition to his lead role as Jackson 'Jax' Teller in Sons of Anarchy, English actor Charlie Hunnam, 29, has appeared in Abandon, Nicholas Nickleby, Children of Men, Green Street Hooligans, and Cold Mountain.

Aussie actor Liam Hemsworth, soon to be seen opposite Nicolas Cage in Knowing, starred in the Aussie TV series Neighbours and The Elephant Princess. He's the younger brother of actor Chris Hemsworth, who plays James T. Kirk's dad in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movie.

- FX

- markmorrissey.com.au

- agentfirman.com

Charlie Hunnam (L), Liam Hemsworth (C), and Joel Kinnaman (R).

Danish actor Joel Kinnaman, 29, has starred in a number of films overseas (such as Storm and The Invisible), and shares the same agency as Stellan Skarsgård, who has been rumored for the role of Thor's father Odin. Based on his look, Kinnaman seems far more appropriate for Loki than for Thor.