FILM · 2011 · USA
Thor
- Directed by
- Kenneth Branagh
- Runtime
- 115 min
- Studio
- Marvel Studios, Marvel Entertainment
203 archived facts 8 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Sep 2026
Against his father Odin's will, The Mighty Thor - a powerful but arrogant warrior god - recklessly reignites an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans as punishment. Once here, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth.
Summary: TMDB
16 Facts on the Deeper Meaning of Thor
- #003
(At about 47 minutes) Dr. Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) mentions a colleague involved with S.H.I.E.L.D. whom he describes as "a pioneer in gamma radiation." This alludes to Bruce Banner, whose gamma radiation experiments turned him into The Incredible Hulk (2008). A deleted scene also mentions Hank Pym from Ant-Man (2015).
- #007
Sir Anthony Hopkins signed on as Odin despite never having read a "Thor" comic and knowing nothing about Thor mythology. What drew him to the role was the concept of the father-son relationship.
- #023
Tom Hiddleston researched Marvel Comics' Loki and found him to be a very multi-dimensional character, basing his performance as Loki on three different actors: Peter O'Toole (the enigmatic, carefree personality), Jack Nicholson (the irritable and almost crazed personality) and Clint Eastwood (the seething, angry personality). Hiddleston also noted influences from Alan Rickman in Die Hard (1988) and James Mason in North by Northwest (1959): "They're all characters to do with control and revenge. I could enjoy those performances as a kid… I think I was so drawn to those performances because they seemed to be having a great time playing these villains. And that was part of the appeal. They were very charismatic even if they weren't at the center of those films."
- #032
(At about 50 minutes) As Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) looks at a Norse Mythology book in the library, there is an illustration showing Odin walking across the Bifröst bridge with the spear Gungnir in one hand and the Tesseract in the other. In Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), the Red Skull mentions that the Tesseract is the jewel of Odin's treasure room.
- #033
The name of the Earth town where much of the film takes place is "Puente Antiguo," which means "antique bridge," possibly implying that the Bifröst uses it as a frequent destination.
- #035
The film draws extensively on actual Norse mythology (the source material for the "Thor" comic books): * The war between the Asgardians and the Jotunns was based on the Æsir-Vanir War (the Jotunns were in fact not an enemy race). * Odin's (Sir Anthony Hopkins) ravens Huginn (thought) and Muninn (memory), who gather information in Midgard (Earth) and relay it to Odin, sit on his throne during Thor's coronation. * The symbol seen in the weapons vault and on Mjölnir is the triquetra, a religious symbol. Its ancestor is the valknut, a Germanic symbol associated with Odin. * The Bifrost, originally thought of by the Norse as a rainbow, is seen as a beam of rainbow light. * Heimdall's golden observatory is based on Himinbjorg, Heimdall's home. * When Odin appears in Jotunheim, he rides his eight-legged horse Sleipnir. * A Jotun once called Thor (Chris Hemsworth) "little Princess;" Thor's hammer had been stolen and he dressed as the love goddess Freya to get it back. * Fandral (Josh Dallas) and Thor describe Loki (Tom Hiddleston) as a mischievous and skilled liar, a nod to Loki's title as the god of mischief and lies. * Thor asks for a cat to ride. Thor's mother Frigga's (Rene Russo) chariot is pulled by two large blue cats. * Thor shows Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) a drawing of a junction containing nine spheres; her perception and representation of it shows Yggdrasil, the great tree around which the nine worlds are bound and which makes up the universe.
- #042
(Around the 9th minute) It is said that Thor's hammer Mjölnir was forged inside "a dying star." This actually carries some scientific weight. When a very large star dies in a supernova, its remains sometimes collapse into a "neutron star." These objects compress the mass of the sun into the size of a city, creating a new kind of matter called "neutronium." A single teaspoon of this material would weigh billions of tons. If Mjölnir were made of this material, it would certainly explain its incredible weight.
- #043
Josh Dallas based his portrayal of Fandral on the famous swashbuckler Errol Flynn, saying: "Flynn had a lot of that boyish charm that Fandral's got." Stan Lee cited Flynn as the original inspiration for Fandral.
- #049
In Norse mythology, Thor's epithet was "protector of mankind" (fitting given Thor's current superhero status). To this day, Scandinavians wear Mjölnir amulets called "torshammare" (Thor's hammers).
- #084
Contains a major spoiler — show
Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) researches Thor's (Chris Hemsworth's) legendary history and finds that "Thursday" derives from "Thor's Day." In Norway, Sweden and Denmark, all the weekdays come from Norse mythology: Tuesday is tirsdag (Tyr's day), Wednesday is onsdag (Odin's day) and Friday is fredag (Frey's day). Sunday and Monday are named in honor of Sol (sun) and Måne (moon). Saturday is lørdag, from Laugardag, the washing day.
- #086
According to Tadanobu Asano (Hogun), he is partly of Norwegian descent, and he therefore felt that working on a film based on Norse mythology was a "necessity" for him.
- #093
Contains a major spoiler — show
(Around 1 hour 29 minutes) After learning of Loki's deception, Thor states that he "would have words" with Loki. This is a famous line Thor says when confronting the Avengers villain Ultron: "Ultron, we would have words with thee."
- #101
Talks were ongoing for Guillermo del Toro to direct. He said: "I'm a fan of [Jack] Kirby and the power he had, and I'm a fan of the original mythology, so I thought we could go back more to the original mythology. I love Loki, I think he's a great figure." This would have been his fourth comic book film after Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008).
- #191
The same consultation led Thor to use the term Einstein-Rosen bridge for the Bifrost Bridge.
- #195
Branagh stated that if this approach succeeded, it would mark Thor as different from other films.
- #196
Branagh described the combination of the primitive and the sophisticated, and the ancient and the modern, as the potential exciting fusion and tension in Thor.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- Wikipedia Thor (film) — Wikipedia
- IMDb IMDb
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