After the shadow of bankruptcy threatened to dismantle the number one comic book company in America just a decade ago, Marvel Comics has emerged bigger and better than ever, helped in great part by the success of its movie production branch, Marvel Studios. Kevin Feige, President of Production for Marvel Studios, assumed command just as Iron Man was beginning production and today he is in charge of coordinating a whole slate of films in an effort to create a "shared universe" for Marvel characters to inhabit, where cross-overs and team-ups are commonplace, just as they are in the comics.
The precedent for cross-overs has already been set, with Robert Downey Jr. appearing as Tony Stark in both Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. Likewise, Samuel L. Jackson signed on to reprise the role of Nick Fury in as many as nine movies. So, who's next? It just might be the Norse thunder god Thor. While discussing Marvel's preparations for the San Diego Comic-Con, Feige dropped the news that Chris Hemsworth, recently signed to play Thor, stopped by the set of Iron Man 2:
Chris Hemsworth came by the (Iron Man 2) set a few weeks ago. There was nobody around, but it was the historic meeting of Thor and Tony Stark. Within a few minutes, the crew was whispering, "There's Thor." Some of them had worked on Star Trek, so they knew who he was, but you could feel the buzz.
The decision to cast Hemsworth, a relative unknown, in the title role of a big-budget effects-driven movie has been questioned by some and criticized by others, but Feige defends the decision:
I think the Marvel way is casting the best actor for the part. It can be somebody relatively new, but it can also be someone like Robert Downey Jr., who you wouldn't necessarily call an unknown.
Kenneth Branagh is signed on to direct Thor, with Natalie Portman cast as Jane Foster, Thor's human love interest, and Tom Hiddleston cast as Loki, Thor's evil half-brother.