IS DON BLAKE IN THOR OR NOT?
- By Devin Faraci
- Published 11/25/2009
- News
Earlier today I ran a story about the beautiful Kat Dennings being cast in Thor, and talked about how the Variety announcement of the film said that it was about medical student Don Blake becoming the god of thunder Thor. I was bummed out for a couple of reasons, but one of them was because nothing I had heard until now indicated that Blake was in the movie (at least not in traditional 'cripple who slams his staff on the ground to become Thor' mode). In fact, when I was on the set of Iron Man 2 Kevin Feige all but said there was no Don Blake.Herc at Aint It Cool has done some research and found that, according to his sources, Variety is wrong. The movie opens with Thor in Asgard, and has been cast out of his home following some evil machinations. When he lands in a desert on Earth he meets Natalie Portman's Jane Foster and her Norwegian professor, played by Stellan Skarsgard.
This sounds much more like what I heard was the case months ago; I just figured that some rewrites had happened after my set visit, as director Kenneth Branagh has been on the project for months now - long enough to change vital aspects of the script. I'm hoping that Herc's source is correct and that Variety got this wrong.
One of the things that I never liked about Don Blake is that he has the whole Marvel superhero thing wrong. He's a cripple who suddenly turns into a huge, handsome god when he taps his walking stick. In fact, Don Blake was created as a way to teach Thor lessons in humility. The Marvel superhero should never have an alter ego who really, really wants to be the superhero. Like Spider-Man and The Hulk, being a superhero should be at least partially problematic for your average Marvel superhero. Thankfully Don Blake was eventually removed from the equation, leaving Thor to just be Thor.
Be a total fucking gimp on our message boards.
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Comments
Comment #1 (Posted by TeamHurricaneLovesYou.com)
Loki must have changed the script. Damn trickster.
Comment #2 (Posted by Mandrill)
Actually, the removal of Don Blake from the comic version of Thor was relatively short lived, and currently Don Blake still channels Thor. And, under the guidance of JM Straczinski, the current Blake/Thor relationship is much deeper and more complex than that from the 60's run. While not a Shakespear, it's a pretty damn good story, leaving me very hopeful for this movie.
Comment #3 (Posted by IndustryKiller!)
While you may or may not be wrong in this case, your proclamations about what comics should and shouldn't be are clearly a part of your lack of understanding of the concept of the superhero. You seem to limit potential material artificially to fit your personal whims (hence your more or less automatic dislike of The Dark Knight in favor of lighter fare). There is no reason why there should not EVER be an alter ego who LIKES being a superhero. There is just zero reason why that would not work as a concept if written well. Even in the marvel universe. In fact your limiting of it to the Marvel Universe is sort of mystifying and arbitrary. just because the best Marvel heroes fit a certain criteria that works, as much because they were written by geniuses as because the concept itself is so perfect, doesn't mean it MUST be adhered to.
Moreover you seem to ignore the cliche tropes in herc's story that the film seems to be moving in the direction of. You really are happy to hear that Portmans character hits Thor in her car in the desert? Or loki kills Odin and conquers Asgard right int eh beginning? That's tripe and it sounds awful.
Comment #4 (Posted by Palmer)
Jurgens' run on Thor is the benchmark this movie will have to live up to. Dan Jurgens didn't need Blake to make readers connect with Thor. His run was epic, cinematic and had an actual beginning, middle and end. If the scriptwriters have any common sense at all (which judging by their previous work they haven't), they'll go with Jurgens' version.
Comment #5 (Posted by Gwai Lo)
I'm so glad at least one person on this page is speaking the truth. That person's name rhymes with FindustryKiller!
Comment #6 (Posted by PlanBFromOuterSpace)
I read the first couple years of Jurgens' Thor, and while Blake was absent, Thor DID have an alter ego, a paramedic named Jake Olsen. If I remember correctly, Thor had to live as Olsen because he'd accidentally caused hi death in a battle or had injured him or something. Again, he was being punished. I know the Asgardian stuff became more prominent in the run, but post #4 is wrong if he's insisting that Thor was just Thor the whole time.
Also, Devin's reasoning seems backwards. I could see Thor himself not necessarily wanting to be a hero, but why would his alter ego NOT want to be one? After all, Blake is a doctor. Of course he wants to help people. In order to become the hero, he becomes Thor, who could maybe just be annoyed by the whole thing. It's sort of the same thing with the Hulk. Banner wants to help people, even if it means having to turn into the Hulk, but Hulk just wants puny humans to leave Hulk alone.
If Hulk is going to be introduced into the Avengers storyline before the Avengers movie, I'd love for it to be in Thor. If not, maybe they could at least hint at Hulk's involvement later on, and Stark and Fury could approach Thor for help.
Comment #7 (Posted by atinyspeckofdust)
marion cobretti can take on any hammer wielding muscleman with an unlit match in his mouth. i don't see this film faring much better.
Comment #8 (Posted by movie fan)
This is a very troubled production and the producers don't know what they want. Expect an updated glowing Thor suit.
Comment #9 (Posted by some cunt.)
Thor-some with Denning and Portman? AWWWWWW YEAH>
Comment #10 (Posted by Ogami Itto)
@Devin: That kind of thinking is why superhero comics (many not all) have become so stagnant and dull. Same boring tropes, same tired themes. Personally I love superheroes who enjoy being superheroes (see Incredibles, The).
Comment #11 (Posted by Palmer)
PlanB, you're right, of course. There was an alter ego for about 12 out of the 80+ issues of Jurgens' run. They did get rid of Olsen AS AN ALTER EGO pretty fast, though. However, he did still appear as a "recurring character".
In any case, my point is that the human aspect was holding back the larger, epic Asgardian story that Jurgens eventually told from year 2 or so onwards. He did some great stuff there, killing off Odin, making Thor the new ruler of Asgard, the attempted invasion of Midgard, Thor going all Kurtz on us... great run and very filmable.
Comment #12 (Posted by DocShaner)
I kind of wish I'd been asked about using the drawing above for this article. As it is, it's an old one that I don't think much of. I'm not angry at all, just wish I'd been asked.
That said, I'd hope that if Jane Foster is part of the movie that Don Blake would be too. Having one without the other seems kind of silly to me. If Blake isn't in it, no skin off my back, still looking forward to a cool Thor movie.
