New Image Of The Buffed Out Thor
When Kenneth Branagh walked through the doors of Marvel Studios to discuss directing Thor, executives greeted the Brit with two questions.
The first was a polite "How are you doing?"
The second was whether Branagh had ever been to Comic-Con.
"I think they were warning me," says Branagh, known more for his adaptations of Shakespeare than superhero stories. "They said to brace myself, that I'd never seen anything like it."
Not unless Branagh spends much time dressed as Chewbacca. But if you're making a movie about heroes with a predilection for capes and spandex, you had better be prepared to face the critical eyes of Comic-Con, the nation's largest gathering of fanboys, Twilight moms and all variants of geeks in between.
The four-day San Diego convention, which kicks off Thursday after a preview Wednesday, will draw more than 125,000 pop-culture fanatics of film, television, comic books and video games. And without an Iron Man, Dark Knight or Spider-Man to salivate over, fans are drawing a bead on Thor, which heralds Marvel's next wave of crime fighters, which will include Captain America and The Avengers.
"Nobody believed in us when we brought Iron Man here," says Marvel chief Kevin Feige. "They said we were bringing our B-team in. I think we've proved that there's no such thing. If you can impress Comic-Con fans, you're in the big leagues."
The convention, which enters its 40th year, has become one of Hollywood's most important showcases. Films such as Avatar, District 9 and Alice in Wonderland flew from last year's convention with a vapor trail of geek blessings, and all became hits. Those films that evoked shrugs —9, Drag Me to Hell— met grimmer fates.
"It's a bit scary, the power and devotion they have," says Chris Hemsworth, who plays the titular Norse hero in the film scheduled to arrive in May. "A couple of months ago I was feeling secure and went online to see what people were saying. Some people loved we were doing a movie; some people already hated it. I'll never read comments again."
He won't need to. The Comic-Con crowd isn't afraid to be heard. While festivals such as Toronto and Sundance showcase the people who make films, Comic-Con showcases the people who watch them.
"Their tastes define the marketplace," says director Jon Favreau, who introduced both Iron Man films at "The Con."
"I think the trick (to winning over fans) is to love the material as much as they do," he says. "If they know you're a fan, too, you're going to be fine."
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