I love big juicy casting scoops involving unknown actors, because they simply leave fanboys speechless. I guess it’s awesome news… sort of? At any rate, I’ll pretend I have something intelligent to add to the conversation. You know that guy who played Captain Kirk’s father at the beginning of Star Trek? Well apparently he’s going to be playing Thor in the upcoming Marvel comic book adaptation. Not only that, but he’ll be taking the lead role in the remake of Red Dawn as well, tackling the character originally played by Patrick Swayze back in 1984. Apparently this Star Trek movie is becoming so successful that it’s launching the careers of anyone even remotely connected to it!

The actor’s name is Chris Hemsworth, and he hails from Australia where he is well-known for having a major role on the TV show Home and Away. He was also cast in Joss Whedon’s upcoming horror movie The Cabin in the Woods, which is currently in production. Nikki Finke was the first to break the news, which has not yet been confirmed by Marvel. However, this is probably because his casting in Thor was dependent on the shooting schedule for Red Dawn, so they are still verifying that everything will line up.

In other Thor casting news, Marvel announced today that Tom Hiddleston will be playing the villain Loki. The British actor previously starred in the BBC’s Wallander alongside Kenneth Branagh. Again, there’s not much to say, but all signs indicate that Thor is going to be a different kind of comic book movie. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all plays out. Has anyone out there seen any of their previous work? Was Hemsworth’s performance as George Kirk enough to sell you on his talent?

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