30 July 2010

Onscreen History of The Mighty Thor

I must have posted at least 4 or 5 separate links to the leaked Comic Con Thor trailer yesterday that kept getting taken down, but it looks like for the time being, the leak has been plugged. There are image galleries up though for those that missed the video. Now that you are anticipating the movie, lets take a stroll through Thor's prolific history as a superhero guest star and original member of the Avenger ready for his big break.


(Oh and by the way, here is a new link. Shhh.)



The Norse God of Thunder, Thor, first appeared in Journey into Mystery #83 in 1962.


Thor was one of the five Marvel Super Heroes that appeared in the motion comicesque animated series in 1966. 13 episodes were devoted to directly adapting tales of Thor to the screen.



Thursday nights were devoted to Thor.


Thor's sometimes alter ego, Dr. Donald Blake would appear briefly in the 1981 Spider-Man series episode, Wrath of the Sub-Mariner.


In the same year, Thor himself would grace Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends with an appearance in, Vengeance of Loki.

In 1988, a live action Thor would team up with the Jade Giant in the TV movie The Incredible Hulk Returns. In this movie, after finding Thor's hammer Mjolnir, Dr. Donald Blake could summon Thor. Donny was a completely separate being.


In the 90's, Thor made the rounds on the Marvel animation circuit, first in a very brief cameo on the X-Men animated series episode, The Dark Phoenix airing in 1994.


In 1995, Thor teamed up with the Fantastic Four in, To Battle the Living Planet.


In 1996, it was The Incredible Hulk's turn to host the God of Thunder in, Mortal Bounds, an episode that also includes Dr. Donald Blake (who is again Thor's alter ego).


Though not actually appearing in any episodes, Thor was displayed prominently in the opening sequence of 1999's Avengers: United They Stand since he was a lot better known than the actual Avengers team utilized in the series.


A less heroic "Ultimate" style take on Thor, who comes off as a psychological case, appeared in the 2006 direct to videos Ultimate Avengers and Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of the Panther.

Although Thor was nowhere to be seen, Dr. Blake was back for a quick cameo in 2007's DTV Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme.

2008's Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow featured Thor as an Avenger in flashback.

Thor's daughter Torunn is one of the main "Next Avengers" who eventually gets to meet her estranged papa.


In 2009's Hulk Vs. Thor gets pummeled and nearly killed by the Green Goliath.




Along with pretty much everyone else in the Marvel Universe (sans Spider-Man) Thor also joined the line-up of The Super Hero Squad Show.

2010's Planet Hulk plays homage to Thor's first comic book appearance but adds in buddy Beta Ray Bill to the mix.

In the "stinger" following the credits of Iron Man 2, the appearance of Mjolnir teased at Marvel's next live action movie, Thor.


Looking forward, there are big plans for Thor who will be a staple in the animated Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, debuting in late 2010.

Kid Thor is also scheduled to appear in a long delayed animated DTV, Thor: Tales of Asgard, timed to coincide with the 2011 live action movie.


And of course, I would be remiss not to mention Thor's big break, the live action movie arriving May 6, 2011 which hopes to continue the amazing success for the Marvel live action universe built upon Iron Man (as well as the modestly performing The Incredible Hulk).

3 comments:

  1. Typo on the Dr. Strange entry.

    Bale instead of Blake.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice catch! Must have had Batman on the brain.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can't wait for this movie to be released 2011 here i come

    ReplyDelete