Kenneth Branagh Directing "Thor" – What? Really?

I’m sure movie fans around the world are scratching their heads in disbelief over the choice of Kenneth Branagh to direct Thor, Marvel’s 2010 release about a partially disabled medical student, Dr. Donald Blake, who discovers his heretofore unknown alter ego, the Norse warrior Thor.

When I think of Branagh, I think of the classical projects he’s done: Much Ado About Nothing, A Midwinter’s Tale, Othello, Hamlet, As You Like It, and of course, his memorable character of Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. 

But “Thor” writer J. Michael Straczynski — whom I’ve crushed on since his Babylon 5 days — says Branagh will be the perfect director for the movie.

More after the jump…

“‘Thor,’ at his best, has always had a classical bent to the character in terms of his history, the way he speaks, and the often Shakespearean intrigues and dramas that surround him,” says Straczynski. “That kind of dialogue and character needs the hand of someone who comes from a theatrical/classically trained background in order for it not to sound forced or artificial. Branagh is absolutely the perfect choice.”

Well, let’s hope so, or a bunch of Marvel fans will be storming his house with torches!

Image: In the Bleak Midwinter, Sony Pictures Classics, 2002