Brandon Inada's Blog

Exciting news! 

Apparently, actor Sir Anthony Hopkins has been cast as Thor’s father, Odin, in 2011′s Thor, based on the Marvel Comics property of the same name.

Directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Tom Hiddleston, Thor will be the first full length, live action feature produced by Marvel Studios to showcase the magical superheroes and villains of the Marvel Universe.

The addition of Anthony Hopkins to the cast of Thor is quite possibly the best bit of news to come out of the project.  (I’m still undecided about Kenneth Branagh helming Thor, a big budget superhero film; after all, most of his previous credits as director are for film adaptations of Shakespeare.)

One of the main reasons Iron Man was a huge success critically and commercially was the top notch casting.

As far as audiences are concerned (and that includes comic book fans as well) Robert Downey, Jr. is Tony Stark, and although The Incredible Hulk didn’t entirely live up to its larger than life expectations, Edward Norton’s Bruce Banner was a huge improvement over Eric Bana’s dour and unlikeable lead.

Likewise, it’s wonderful to see supporting roles in superhero films being cast with truly great actors like Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Jeff Bridges, and now Anthony Hopkins.

Now let’s just hope they keep the wonderful casting streak alive with The First Avenger: Captain America…

Here’s a look at the new A-Team set to debut early next summer:

And for comparison’s sake, here’s a group shot of the original cast from the hit 1980′s television series that started it all:

The new film stars Liam Neeson, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Bradley Cooper, and Sharlto Copley.

The new cast certainly looks good, although Quinton Jackson seems a bit small (at least in the photos) when compared to the original B. A. Baracus, the one and only Mr. T.

Check out this really cool Mega Man wall mural (Mega Man vs Dr. Wily) made by darth_kettch over at the Sprite Stitch Board:

Made entirely out of perler bead, the various Mega Man-inspired pieces were affixed to a wall (using Super Glue) at the student dorm where the artist used to reside in Norway.

Here are a few closeup shots of the mural:

To me, it’s the movement of the piece that really makes this wall mural stand out.  Rather than show a simple, static “screenshot” of our hero firing a volley at his archnemesis Dr. Wily, by using a variety of sprites – Mega Man running, jumping, sliding, and shooting - the artist depicts a visually interesting sequence of events that could’ve come straight from the game.

Nicely done, don’t you think?