The first image of Chris Hemsworth as Marvel Comics’ Thor has been released!

Ironman 2 is only a week away, and the Kenneth Branagh directed Thor comes out next May.

There have been a lot of rumors about Spider-Man 4; story and character arguments between director Sam Raimi and Sony Pictures and a possible release date change.  None of this has been confirmed by the studio, but shooting has already been delayed and no start date has been confirmed. This would make it very hard for the special effects superhero film to hit its May 6th, 2011 target date. At this point, any summer date would become hard. Which brings us to…

SPIDER-MAN 4 vs THOR

Okay, so there is no way Spider-Man 4 and Thor will get released on the same date, but for the moment, they share a target release date. With Spider-Man 4’s release so uncertain, Paramount Pictures have moved Thor from its original end of May release to the 6th. The date has been secured by Marvel for years and is the best way to open the summer. Right when Thor moved its release date, Disney moved the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie (On Stranger Tides) to Thor‘s old date.  So, if Spider-Man 4 gets back on track, will it be able to come out in the summer?

Regardless of the problems with the new Spider-Man flick, I think that this is a great move for Thor.  The film is gearing to start up production, with direction by Kenneth Branagh and starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Stuart Townsend, Ray Stevenson, and Rene Russo (with an appearance by Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury).  Everything about the production has seemed to be going smoothly, from the script which has gotten rave reviews to the all star cast. I’m excited.

Deadline Hollywood Daily is reporting that Chris Hemsworth has been cast in Marvel Studios’ upcoming big screen Thor movie.  The 25 year old Australian actor can currently be seen in the Star Trek reboot as the heroic Captain George Kirk. While he doesn’t have much screen time in Trek, he makes the best of what he was given with a powerful presence and a very memorable sequence.

Will he make a good Thor? I honestly have no idea. I’ve never seen his Australian TV series Home and Away, and Trek was his first big feature. Thor is a larger than life superhero (who also happens to be a God). Kenneth Branagh is directing the film for Marvel with an expected release date of May 20th, 2011.

Sadly, Matthew Vaughn is off another Marvel comics film adaptation (the first of which was “X3”). Variety broke the news last night that Kenneth Branagh (Henry V, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein) is close to a deal with Marvel to direct the comic book Norse God’s first feature film.

Branagh, a director and actor, would be directing from a script by Mark Protosevich, which early reviews have praised as being the best comic book turned film script ever written. In Protosevich’s “Thor”, we follow a “disabled medical student Donald Blake, who has an alter ego as the hammer-wielding Norse god Thor.” Rumor has it that the film would be a fantasy epic, rather than a stright superhero film (like Marvel’s “Iron Man” and “The Incredible Hulk” films this past summer).

While no actor has been attached to portray Thor, there have been rumors for months that Kevin McKidd (Journeyman, Rome) would be picking up the hammer. The film is expected to be released on June 4, 2010, which is a little over a month after “Iron Man 2” is supposed to hit theaters.