Things are certainly gearing up on Thor, with Marvel announcing a couple of days ago that Kenneth Branagh was due to begin filming the movie in January. Now comes the news that the film has cast its Warriors Three, a groups of hard-nuts from Asgard who fight alongside Thor himself.
So who will they be? Well, while last month Dominic Cooper was rumoured to be up for one of the roles, it seems the parts have gone to Ray Stevenson (Rome, Punisher:Warzone), Tadanobu Asano (Ichi the Killer, Mongol), and Stuart Townsend (The League of Extraordinary Gentleman).
While the news was first reported by Variety, they’ve since taken the story down, however it was picked up by Collider. With Variety removing the story, it’s possible that not all the names for the Warriors Three are correct, so don’t be shocked if all of the actors haven’t signed on the dotted line yet and things change.
Assuming the names are correct, Stevenson will play Volstagg the Valiant, Asano will be Hogun the Grim, and Townsend will portray Fandral the Dashing (which is the role Cooper was auditioning for). They’ll be joining the likes of Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Anthony Hopkins as Odin and Natalie Portman as the human romantic interest, Jane Foster.
It’s certainly good news for Townsend, as while he looked like he was going to become a major star in the early part of the decade, his career never got over the triple whammy of being fired from the role of Aragorn a few days into filming of Lord Of The Rings, and the flops of Queen Of The Damned and The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen. He also got a slight reputation for being awkward to work with, whether derseved or not. Thor will be his highest profile film for several years.
Keep watching, as with filming now imminent, expect even more cast to be announced for Thor in the next few weeks.