Silence of the Aesir
October 29, 2009
Too obscure?
It seems that Sir Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs, Remains of the Day, Howards of the End) will play Odin in Kenneth Branagh’s Thor. While awesome, I am somewhat disheartened that Brian Blessed did not get the role.
Now, Blessed would be the absolute perfect choice for a loud or blustery Odin. I’m sure Hopkins can do loud, but I see him as more of a spare actor. Look at his performances. Even Hannibal Lector is a subdued psychopath.
Did I just write that?
Anyway, I can’t say that Hopkins is a bad choice. I do wish, though, that Blessed had got some love in this one. He’s just so perfect as Odin. And he can do subdued. Just watch his Exeter in Branagh’s Henry V. Really substantial.
In any case, I’m still going to be interested to see how Branagh deals with the Thor/Donald Blake split. For a while, I was expecting him to double cast—give us an actor for Blake and one for Thor. Now I’m wondering if they’ll Doctor Manhattan him and CGI up a bulked out Thor.
Just not the blue penis, please.