Branagh's Hopkins-Led 'Thor' Welcomes Townsend, Stevenson & Asano to Cast

As previously reported, screen star and Drama Desk-winning actor Anthony Hopkins will star in Thor, the Kenneth Branagh helmed film for Marvel Studios.  Production begins in January and Paramount Pictures will distribute the film on May 20, 2011.

Based on the Marvel Comics series, Thor is a big budget adventure that explores the mystical roots of the Asgardian god. In Thor, mighty warrior Thor of Asgard is powerful but arrogant. His irresponsible actions reignite an ancient war and he is banished to Earth by his father. He comes into his own heroism when he fights his Asgard arch enemy, Loki, and protects Earth. The film was written by Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend), with Zack Stentz & Ashley Miller.

Hopkins will play Odin, the king of Asgard and the father of Thor (Star Treks Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddelston). Natalie Portman has been cast as Thor's love interest, Jane Foster.  they are joined by Jaimie Alexander and Colm Feore.

Additional casting has been revealed, according to Variety, and includes the talents of Stuart Townsend, Ray Stevenson, and Tadanobu Asano to play Warrior's Three, a trio of Asgardian adventurers who fight alongside the Norse god in the Marvel Entertainment drama.

Townsend, who last wrote and directed "Battle in Seattle," will play Fandral, a character from the comic book series inspired by Errol Flynn. Stevenson, the star of the small screen's "Rome," plays Volstagg the Valiant, a hard-living brawler, inspired by Shakespeare's Falstaff. Asano, best known for starring in "Mongol," plays Hogun the Grim, the third warrior and traveling buddy of Thor (Hemsworth).

Kevin Feige is producing, with Stentz & Miller attached as "Fringe" writer/producers.

Hopkins was seen on Broadway in the original production of Equus, for which he won a Drama Desk Award.  A protege of Sir Laurence Olivier in the 1960s, he the Royal National Theatre and became Olivier's understudy, filling in when Olivier was struck with appendicitis during a production of August Strindberg's The Dance of Death. He additionally worked at the National Theatre, most notably as Lambert Le Roux in Pravda by David Hare and Howard Brenton and as Antony in Antony and Cleopatra opposite Judi Dench. Considered to be one of film's greatest living actors, he is known for his portrayal of cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in the 1991's The Silence of the Lambs, its sequel, Hannibal, and its prequel, Red Dragon. His other notable film credits include Magic, The Elephant Man, 84 Charing Cross Road, Dracula, Legends of the Fall, The Remains of the Day, Amistad, Meet Joe Black, The Mask of Zorro, The World's Fastest Indian, Hearts in Atlantis, Nixon and Fracture. He will next be seen starring with Benicio Del Toro in the Joe Johnston-directed "The Wolfman," released by Universal next February, and Woody Allen's "You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger." 

Kenneth Branagh achieved fame on the U.K. stage, winning the 1982 SWET Award for BestNewcomer for his role as Judd in Julian Mitchell's Another Country, immediately after leaving RADA. He and David Parfitt founded the Renaissance Theatre Company in 1987, following success with several productions on the London 'Fringe,' including Branagh's full-scale production of Romeo and Juliet at the Lyric Studio, co-starring with Samantha Bond. The first major Renaissance production was Branagh's Christmas 1987 staging of Twelfth Night at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith. This Twelfth Night was later adapted for television and is now available on DVD. Renaissance collaborated with Birmingham Rep for a 1988 touring season of three Shakespeare plays under the umbrella title of Renaissance Shakespeare on the Road, featuring directorial debuts for Judi Dench with Much Ado About Nothing (starring Branagh and Emma Thompson as Benedick and Beatrice), Geraldine McEwan with As You Like It, and Derek Jacobi directing Branagh in the title role in Hamlet, with SopHie Thompson as Ophelia. More recently, in 2002, Branagh starred at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield as Richard III. In 2003 he starred in the Royal National Theatre's production of David Mamet's Edmond. Branagh directed The Play What I Wrote in England in 2001 and directed a Broadway production in 2003.From September to November 2008, Branagh appeared at Wyndham's Theatre as the title character in the Donmar West End revival of Anton Chekhov's Ivanov in a new version by Tom Stoppard. His performance was lauded as the "performance of the year" by several critics. It won him the Critics' Circle Award for Best Male Performance. In film, Branagh is best known for his film adaptations of William Shakespeare, beginning with Henry V (1989), followed by Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Hamlet (1996), Love's Labour's Lost (2000) and As You Like It (2006)