Kenneth Branagh Taking ‘Very Shakespearean’ Approach to ‘Thor,’ Says Joe Quesada

Submitted by madboi69 on Thu, 06/18/2009 - 11:35. - Commented on 0 times

Splashpage.mtv.com reports that in his latest Cup O’ Joe column, Quesada detailed his interactions with Branagh and Feige, citing one specific meeting as “one of the highlights of my time here at Marvel” and filled with plenty of theatrics from the director and studio executive.

“It was performance art,” Quesada recalled. “Kevin would give us the establishment of the shot and the situation: ‘Here we are. We’re in (take your pick of location). And here’s Odin and he’s coming up to (pick a character.)’ And then Kenneth would come in and give you the color commentary. ‘Odin has an air of majesty to him’ and he’d act out the Odin part or the Thor part. So we sat there and literally got a three-hour one-man show from Kenneth Branagh. It was fantastic.”

Describing Branagh as “very Shakespearean,” Quesada said that the “Thor” director had a phenomenal grasp on the characters of Thor, Loki, Odin and the rest of the film’s cast.

“He’s definitely about character, which is the quintessential trait you have to have to understand the Marvel characters,” he said. “It’s not just big hammers and capes and things like that. It’s about what makes the character tick. There’s definitely a reason for Thor, a reason for him being and a very deep family relationship and story in the movie that I think is going to be very cool.”

Quesada also addressed some of the fears associated with “Thor” — namely, is an old English-speaking Norse God with an oversized hammer going to fill out theater seats in the same way that Jon Favreau’s “Iron Man” did?

“I think it’s going to be [a tougher sell] on the surface,” he agreed. “[But we've] got plans already to get Thor’s name out within a younger group of kids. I think the upcoming ‘Super Hero Squad’ and ‘Avengers Animated’ shows are going to do wonders to get that across, and then we’re working on a couple of ancillary things here and there to boost the desire for kids in particular to know more about Thor and the general public as well.”