STRINGER BELL CROSSES FROM BAWLMER TO ASGARD

Say Whaaaaaaaaaaat?!

What? Casting yellers and negroes in Norse roles? That's just stupid. Don't these damn fools have any sense of historical or geographic integrity! Boy, get off my lawn and my Thor movie!

Bravo, Devin.

Once again Devin stands a stoic island of knee-jerk reactionary political correctness in the pool of shit spewed by the rest of the internet. I really enjoy how people fall all over themselves to make sure they are seen bashing perceived racism. I personally think it does make more sense to have norse gods played by generally blond hair blue eyed people. Some people are purists about their precious source material... and nothing more. But in the end it is just a FUCKING MOVIE, so get over it. I personally can't wait until a Martin Luther biopic comes out featuring a Korean in the title role. You know, just to show that we're all multicultural here. It is (the content of) the character that counts after all.

Fanboy Aryan Nation? Jesus, Devin.

Devin's not exactly far off the mark, because at least on the "fan oriented" comic sites there are indeed plenty of people proverbially shitting their pants. Reactions range from "First casting mistake of this movie" to "FIRE THE CASTING DIRECTOR NOW ZOMG THIS IS THE SAME PC BULLCRAP THAT RUINED CATWOMAN." (As if Catwoman didn't have a whole host of problems that had nothing to do with Halle Berry's ethnicity).

Stringer will make a bad-ass Norse God. Now we just need Omar to play Captain America. Seriously. Can you imagine Micheal K. Williams strolling down an alley whistling "Farmer in the Dell" while wearing a patriot superhero outfit? Sold...

The internet will shit its pants over whatever its told to shit its pants over. No-one cares til someone says 'will there be a negative reaction to this' and then away we go', and Branagh wouldnt care about having an asian Hamlet let alone a black Heimdall. In Shakespeare you just let the audience know whose who and get on with it. I'd take it further and do a totally minimalist production on a black soundstage with nothing but chorus saying 'behold heimdall and the bifrost bridge' Bring on the soliloquies.

Y'know, this entire "multicultural casting" story was bullshit up until the casting of heimdal. I mean, have you seen Hogun the grim in the actual comics? He aint no swede, he looks like a mongul, so the casting was on point. Ray Stevenson playing a Roman in Rome does not make his casting "multicultural". And as for Townsend...really? Might as well say Gibson in Braveheart was multicultural casting. This casting is the one thing that took me by surprise. I find it odd.

Devin never passes up an opportunity to puff up his chest and declare he's superior to everyone else, especially when he's up against imaginary foes and straw men. Anything to stroke his own ego.

Stringer Bell is a credit to his people.

I agree with Chareth. Just make Captain America black already. Have him travel forward in time from WW2 for the sole pariotic purpose of punching Obama in the face for bowing to the Japanese emperor. USA!! USA!!

Devin's opinion is as predictable and bland as the taste of vanilla ice cream. If you don't like multicultural casting, you're a racist. If you do, you're open-minded. Let's just ignore how much of a self-loathing whitey Devin is...and the fact that Marvel execs wanted the multi-cultural casting moreso than Kenny. Oh, I'm sorry. Would that be racial pandering on the part of Marvel - again?! Sam Jackson? Daredevil? Cap America script? Here's a hint for self-hating whitey's - you care more about racial casting than the "other races" actually do.

This is nothing but Political Correctness BS. On superherohype, there were hundreds of feedbacks within hours blasting this move. What happened? they shut the forum down. So much for free speech.

Yeah, color me racist, because I was kind of looking forward to a movie chock-full of absurdly Scandinavian looking actors, pale-eyed, fair haired and lantern-jawed. Like Max Von Sydow. And I'm not joking about that. It's the kind of thing one would expect and look forward to when anticipating a movie called THOR. I certainly wouldn't expect to see any white people in a movie based on African mythology. This kind of multicultural casting can be read as both the by-product of our history of racism in terms of it being an expression of white guilt, and a marketing ploy to ensure that as broad a demographic as possible gets caught in the spray. I don't think it comes from any sort of progressive thinking at all, when inclusiveness means miscasting movie roles out of some sort of misguiding Hollywood melting-pot mentality. I think it's rather insincere condescending, actually. Like hearing John McCain or Dick Chaney say "African American".

kavendish you are a fucking moron. MLK is a real person, and one of the greatest civil rights leaders in history. Thor is a comic book. I have heard that argument before and it just shows how crazy you nerds really are.

Jon, though I generally agree with what you are saying here, you should really get your facts right. Martin Luther lived in the Holy Roman Empire and started the protestant reformation. Martin Luther King lived five centuries later and was named after him. As for racially different casting I think the only time it matters is if that racial identity is essential to the character. For example black kingpin is fine, but black Jessica Jones misses the point (being a middle-class WASP is essential to her character).

"On superherohype, there were hundreds of feedbacks within hours blasting this move. What happened? they shut the forum down. So much for free speech." I've seen the superherohype boards, and they're pretty weak for the most part, full of people that say things like "Y'know, I think (actor's name here) would be PERFECT for this role" after 50 people have just said the exact same thing about the same person. No one seems to read what anyone else has said, and they just sound off with half-assed remarks. You end up with articles with 240 comments, with maybe a handful of interesting posts. Those boards are also pretty full of people that have absolutely no idea how movies are made at all. For the most part, they probably SHOULDN'T be heard from...

smary smary snark too many people on the chu....

Devin, what you seem to forget beneath all your PC is that the Norse Gods were imagined by white guys who had probably never even seen a black dude before. Thor is based on Northern mythology and draws most of its characters from there. <p>I'm sorry, but casting a black Heimdall is just retarded! I love Elba, he was fantastic in The Wire, American Gangster and The Office. But this casting choice seems cynical to me, like "make sure you cover all possible target groups". I'd love to see Elba in the movie, but please not as a NORSE GOD, for Chrissakes.

Wow. Lotta fuckin' racists up in here.

I for one would like all of the Norse gods to look Norse, if not for making them look like they do in the comic book, but also because I disagree with Devin's comment: I think the Norse gods would, quite specifically, look Norse. I also don't like the accusation that this makes me a racist, because I also want to see a Black Panther movie eventually, but in the same vein, it would bug me if they populated Wakanda with a bunch of honkeys. And to follow up on what David Banner said (really, bro? David Banner?), I think the same thing applies to Captain America. He's white because he's the SECOND Captain America, the first being Isaiah Bradley, a black man, because the guys in charge were more willing to test out the serum on black soldiers than white soldiers. (Read Truth: Red, White, and Black, it's really good.) I don't think any of us were bugged when Sam Jackson showed up as Nick Fury in Iron Man, or when Sam Jackson showed up as Nick Fury in The Ultimates (in fact, Ultimate Nick Fury has a similar story to Isaiah Bradly). In the end, I guess my main point (it was a roundabout argument) is that as much as I like Devin, as much as I appreciate his reviews, I don't like the way he always accuses anyone who disagrees with him on the smallest issues of being both stupid and morally wrong.

You fucking imbeciles. The Thor in the comic book is a bastardized version of the Thor from Norse mythology. It is NOT a comic about genuine Norse mythology. It takes EXTENSIVE ARTISITC LICENSE with genuine Norse mythology. To cry like little babies that the movie of the comic book is taking artistic license is FUCKING RETARDED and you are INSULTS TO THE POTENTIAL OF THE HUMAN MIND. You make me sick.

"usual racist suspects"? Elba might be a fine actor, but they might as well cast Mo’Nique! Norse mythology Old Norse: Heimdallr in Norse mythology, the watchman of the gods. Called the shining god and whitest skinned of the gods, Heimdall dwelt at the entry to Asgard, where he guarded Bifrost, the rainbow bridge. He required less sleep than a bird, could see 100 leagues, and could hear grass growing in the meadows and wool growing on sheep. Heimdall kept the “ringing” horn, Gjallarhorn, which could be heard throughout heaven, earth, and the lower world; it was believed that he would sound the horn to summon the gods when their enemies, the giants, drew near at the Ragnarök, the end of the world of gods and men.

Oh man why the hell are the comments back? The idiots on this site are about as intelligent as Appalachian incest babies. Devin, you lovable fat fuck...for the love of god please get rid of the comments; you are only giving voice to those that should never be heard!

I would be happy to see Idris play a black god or a black superhero, he's big and he's talented. Looking forward to Losers very much. Having him play viking god however is not very bright. What are they gonna do, paint his face white? I really hope this is a mistake and that he's playing some earthman in the movie. This film was starting to look really promising too.

Such disregard for the subject matter, I'm starting to worry that Thor might not wear a dress now.

Jon, thanks for taking the bait. Where race is concerned, conclusions will be leaped to. David Banner, thanks for recognizing the bait and pointing it out before I even had a chance to see the remark. In the end, folks, once again, it's a MOVIE. Get over it.

It's kind of funny, cause Heimdall's wikipedia entry (for the actual god, not the comic) reveals that he is known as "the whitest of all the gods". hahaha. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heimdall

Damn your revisionist history hollywood! I'm sorry, but some roles are only meant for certain ethnicities, it has nothing to do w/ racism. It would just seem distracting, like if you were to cast Tom Hanks in Malcom X or something.

funny how everyone is bending over backwards trying not to sound like a racist. the role is for a white person and that's it. and if you are being serious about calling me racist for stating that fact, i'm going to reach trough the computerscreen and get you...

How about next we change Black Panther or Blade to a white person? Oh yeah, because that would be racist, right? Devin is the typical liberal douchebag that hates white people and thinks only white people are racist.