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1* AbilityOverAppearance: In the comics, Heimdall is pretty covered up, but still visibly Caucasian. For the film, however, Creator/KennethBranagh chose to cast very much black Creator/IdrisElba. Fan controversy over his choice led to this quote:
2-->''"If you have a chance to have a great actor in the part, everything else is irrelevant."''
3* ActorSharedBackground: Sif is the lone female warrior in Thor's FiveManBand. Her actress Creator/JaimieAlexander had been one of few girls on her high school wrestling team.
4* AwesomeDearBoy: Creator/NataliePortman's words on accepting the role--before even being offered a script--were "Creator/KennethBranagh doing ''Thor'' is super weird. I've got to do it." As Jane's character was developed, Portman jumped at the chance to play a lady scientist too.
5* CastTheRunnerUp: Creator/TomHiddleston was in the running to play Thor. He wasn't quite right for that role, but everyone realized he'd make the perfect Loki.
6* CreatorChosenCasting: Creator/KennethBranagh cast Creator/TomHiddleston having worked with him on ''Ivanov'' and ''Series/{{Wallander}}''.
7* CreatorsOddball: Director Creator/KennethBranagh was largely known for successful adaptations of Shakespeare to film and some quirky Indie-type things. Then he gets tapped to direct a sci-fi/fantasy action adventure movie about Norse gods having a serious squabble in small town New Mexico. Honestly, a royal family having a fight is perfectly appropriate for Shakespeare. All the other stuff is different.
8* DarkHorseCasting: The casting of Creator/ChrisHemsworth and Creator/TomHiddleston, whose most famous roles back then were bit parts at most, in the lead male roles was very unexpected at the time.
9* DeletedRole: Adriana Barraza had a sizeable supporting role as the diner owner Izabella Alverez. Most of her scenes were cut and she only appears once in the final film. Creator/KennethBranagh sent a letter of apology to the actress.
10* DeletedScene: [[DeletedScene/MarvelCinematicUniverse See here]].
11* DyeingForYourArt:
12** Creator/TomHiddleston originally auditioned to play Thor and gained 20 lbs of muscle to help look the part. When it was decided he was better suited to play Thor's lean and dark brother Loki, he had to slim down and dye his (naturally blond) hair black.
13** Once he was cast as Thor, Creator/ChrisHemsworth, having never worked out before, underwent six months of training with a US Navy SEAL and continued to gain so much muscle right up to filming that when he first put on his costume, it was too tight for him and actually cut off circulation to his legs. His eyebrows were also bleached to match his blonde hair, a decision everyone involved regretted as it ended up looking distractingly strange.
14* EnforcedMethodActing:
15** The scene where Loki briefly tries to intervene in Thor's banishment, but is silenced by a sort of roar from Odin was "unscripted genius[...] Terrifying. Magnificent." on Anthony Hopkins' part, and Tom Hiddleston's startled, shrinking reaction was not acting.
16** Hiddleston found Loki's helmet very uncomfortable, as it was heavy to wear and he couldn't see properly out of it. He channeled this discomfort into Loki's battle scenes.
17* FakeBrit: The Asgardians speak with English accents. Creator/ChrisHemsworth (Thor) is Australian, Jaimie Alexander (Sif) and Creator/JoshDallas (Fandral) are American. Creator/AnthonyHopkins (Odin) is Welsh.
18* FakeNationality: The Norwegian-American Erik Selvig is portrayed by the Swedish Creator/StellanSkarsgard.
19* FirstAppearance: In addition to introducing Thor and his world, we also get the first appearance of Hawkeye.
20* FollowTheLeader: The film's [[https://www.fanpop.com/clubs/thor-2011/images/37279360/title/thor-2011-poster-images-photo character posters]] set off a trend of movies creating posters of characters staring intensely at the camera with descriptive text on their faces. It became prevalent enough that it became ripe for mocking, as can be seen in [[Characters/AngieTribeca this character sheet]].
21* TheOtherMarty: Stuart Townsend was cast as Fandral but replaced by Creator/JoshDallas days before filming began.
22* [[PlayingAgainstType/FilmDirecting Playing Against Type: Film Directing]]: Creator/KennethBranagh, who's better known for Shakespearean films, took a turn at directing a superhero flick. This is apparently because he was a fan of the comic as a child.
23* PromotedFanboy: Creator/KennethBranagh had been a fan of the comics since childhood.
24* RecycledSet: The set used for the town, was the same modernized town and set used for ''Film/{{Silverado}}''.
25* SavedFromDevelopmentHell:
26** Creator/SamRaimi met with Creator/StanLee and Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios about making a ''Thor'' movie back in 1990, but the project went nowhere. Marvel again met with Artisan to finance and push the film, but it failed to get picked up by any studios. Raimi would go on to direct the Film/SpiderManTrilogy and ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness''.
27** After the project moved to Creator/{{Paramount}} and Marvel, Mark Protosevich, a [[PromotedFanboy big fan of the comics]], wrote a script he described as an epic about "An Old Testament god who becomes a New Testament god." The draft ended up being rewritten due to fears that it would be too expensive to produce, as estimates had the script's budget pegged at around 300 million dollars. Protosevich still received story credit in the final product of the film.
28* SeparatedAtBirthCasting:
29** Dakota Goyo and Ted Allpress, who play Thor and Loki as children respectively, really do resemble Creator/ChrisHemsworth and Creator/TomHiddleston.
30** While it's not obvious at first glance due to the heavy Frost Giant make-up and prosthetics, the filmmakers made an excellent choice casting Creator/ColmFeore as Laufey because his [[http://media.tumblr.com/8daa12ca92ffb26d55393e74c6ba41cf/tumblr_inline_mwfa6q5TU91qcbgrk.jpg facial bone structure is virtually identical]] to [[spoiler:Creator/TomHiddleston's (Loki is Laufey's biological son)]].
31* SoMyKidsCanWatch: Creator/IdrisElba has said he takes roles in films like ''Thor'' because his daughter is a big fan of those types of movies.
32* StarMakingRole:
33** This is the film that put Creator/ChrisHemsworth on the map for most American and foreign audiences.
34** Creator/TomHiddleston was virtually unknown worldwide before playing Loki, and is now one of the online fandom's most beloved stars.
35** While Creator/IdrisElba had already made a name for himself on television with ''Series/TheWire'' and ''Series/{{Luther}}'', his film career really took off after the release of this movie.
36* ThrowItIn:
37** Creator/AnthonyHopkins improvised his reaction to Thor's CallingTheOldManOut speech. Apparently, crew members were [[{{Tearjerker}} bursting into tears]] on the set during filming.
38** So was Odin's terrifying and definitely unscripted growl when Loki attempts to intervene, which deserves a mention by itself.
39* UncreditedRole:
40** Creator/JossWhedon directed the post-credits scene uncredited.
41** Creator/JeremyRenner's cameo as ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} is also uncredited.
42** As is Creator/SamuelLJackson for his cameo in the post-credits scene.
43* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
44** Creator/DanielCraig was the first choice for the role of Thor before Creator/ChrisHemsworth was cast, but turned down the offer due to his commitments to the Film/JamesBond franchise.
45*** Creator/BradPitt, Creator/ChanningTatum, Creator/KevinMcKidd and [[Wrestling/TripleH Paul Levesque]] were also considered for the part of Thor during early production stages. Pitt would eventually go on to portray the [[spoiler:[[TheCameo Vanisher]] in ''Film/Deadpool2'']].
46*** Creator/CharlieHunnam, Creator/AlexanderSkarsgard, Creator/JoelKinnaman, Creator/KellanLutz, Creator/AlanRitchson and Creator/LiamHemsworth screen-tested for the titular role as well before the casting of Hemsworth.
47** Creator/JoshHartnett, Creator/JimCarrey and Creator/CharlieCox were considered for the part of ComicBook/{{Loki}} before the casting of Creator/TomHiddleston. Cox would eventually go on to portray [[ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} Matt Murdock]] in ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}''.
48** Creator/MelGibson and '''Creator/BrianBlessed''' were approached for the role of Odin before Creator/AnthonyHopkins was cast.
49** Creator/JessicaBiel and Creator/DioraBaird were considered for the part of ComicBook/LadySif before the casting of Creator/JaimieAlexander. Biel previously played Abigail Whistler in ''Film/BladeTrinity'', and was previously considered for [[ComicBook/BlackWidow Natasha Romanoff]] in ''Film/IronMan2''.
50** Creator/ZacharyLevi and Creator/StuartTownsend were offered the role of Fandral the Dashing before Creator/JoshDallas was cast. However, Levi turned it down due to scheduling commitments to ''Series/{{Chuck}}'', while Townsend dropped out of the project over CreativeDifferences with the producers. Levi would later go on to replace Dallas as Fandral the Dashing in ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' and ''Film/ThorRagnarok''.
51** Creator/BrieLarson auditioned for an unspecified role in the film. She would go on to portray [[Characters/MarvelComicsCarolDanvers Carol Danvers]] in ''Film/{{Captain Marvel|2019}}''.
52** Creator/GuillermoDelToro, Creator/MatthewVaughn, [[Film/XXXReturnOfXanderCage D.J. Caruso]], Creator/DavidSGoyer and Creator/LouisLeterrier had discussions about directing the movie before Creator/KennethBranagh was hired. Del Toro turned down the offer to helm ''Film/TheHobbitAnUnexpectedJourney'' instead, which he ''also'' ended up walking away from. Del Toro, Goyer and Leterrier previously directed ''Film/BladeII'', ''Film/BladeTrinity'' and ''Film/{{The Incredible Hulk|2008}}'' respectively, while Vaughn would go on to helm ''Film/XMenFirstClass''.
53** A scene was present [[http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Thor.html#6360 in the original script]] where Loki did reveal himself to Laufey [[spoiler: as his son]]. Laufey then admitted [[spoiler: his ParentalAbandonment of him]].
54** Dr. Selvig offered Jane to contact his colleague for consultation about S.H.I.E.L.D. when S.H.I.E.L.D. confiscated Jane's equipment. Said colleague was actually [[Film/AntMan1 Dr. Hank Pym]] and his name was initially going to be mentioned. But the filmmakers think it was too soon to mention Hank Pym, so his name ends up being unmentioned in the film.
55** In the comics, Sif and Heimdall are siblings, which is not retained in this film and thus the rest of the MCU. At one point, this element was going to be retained and Sif would have been dark-skinned as well: [[https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Thor_(film)/Gallery#Concept_Art concept art of this exists (which also reveals that Balder, Thor's ''other'' brother in the comics, was originally going to be in the film with a crucial role before being cut)]].
56** The Enchantress was initially going to appear and concept art of her design can even be found online.
57** At one point, Creator/KennethBranagh wanted to change the name of Thor's hammer to Uru, as he found "Mjölnir" to be rather difficult to pronounce. Creator/KevinFeige convinced him to change his mind, as he warned Branagh that changing the name could potentially bring the wrath of fans down on him.
58* WordOfSaintPaul: Thor and Loki both wield named weapons: Mjölnir, the hammer, and Gungnir, Odin's spear. Creator/ClarkGregg, who plays Agent Phil Coulson, felt that he also should have a named weapon, so he decided that his Glock 17 was "Glockenspiel."

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