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For all you THOR fans, today we get our first official look at Anthony Hopkins as Odin, our first official look at Tom Hiddleston as Loki, and our first official shot of Chris Hemsworth as Thor holding the “Mjolnir” hammer.  The LATimes got a real scoop today on THOR info, including mention that director Kenneth Branagh will be at San Diego Comic-Con next week to give a presentation on his upcoming superhero adaptation, and inevitably discuss the fact that it’s now officially going to be a 3-D picture.  The real question now is which of the principle cast (which includes Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Anthony Hopkins) will join Branagh on stage.  Here’s some of what he had to say:

“We came to feel that in our case 3-D could be the very good friend of story and character for a different kind of experience,” Branagh said, taking a break from post-production. The filmmaker said the terminology of the 3-D process initially made him cringe — at first, it was “math and physics and way over my head,” he said with a chuckle — but then he started to pulse with the unexpected artistic opportunities.

“It’s another draft of the story that can reveal itself in a different way,” he said. “I had a healthy degree of skepticism up front … I’ve become somebody extremely excited about working with possibilities of doing it this way.”

THOR is said to take place partly in the kingdom of Asgard, and partly in a New Mexico town where Thor is exiled by his father Odin.  It’s said that Branagh even changed some of his shooting techniques to accomodate the 3-D that would be done retroactively.  THE FIRST AVENGER: CAPTAIN AMERICA director Joe Johnston seemed a little more nervous about the 3-D effects.

“I think it tends to be overused and can be a little bit gimmicky,” said Johnston, who began shooting last week in London but will travel to San Diego for Marvel’s Comic-Con panel. “A lot of people are using 3-D now because they feel have they have to … that will come and go and the pictures that deserve to be in 3-D will continue to be. When it’s done bad, it can make you carsick.”

Johnston actually did a test shoot with 3-D gear for one day on his film, and hated it, saying the bulky gear and calibration issues caused restricted filmmaking options, and ultimately was a “nightmare” to attempt.  Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige stated that the films were shot with the 3-D retrofit in mind, which would help them avoid certain pitfalls late in the game.  Feige and Branagh were interviewed together, and stated the following:

‬‪”I’d say there’s not a great feeling out there for conversion based on some of the films that may have succeeded financially but had their artistry come under fire,” Feige said, not naming names but most likely referring to “Clash of the Titans,” the Warner Bros. release that surpassed $490 million in worldwide box office but was savaged by critics for a rushed 3-D conversion that many saw as especially clumsy, distracting and ill-advised.

Feige, in London for “Captain America,” pledged that “an unprecedented amount of time” would be devoted to the conversion process. He also said the films will benefit from the fact that the 3-D choice was made early on with passion and planning and not in post-production, as was the case with a flurry of films that came on the heels of “Avatar” and its historic box-office success.

“In being able to think in 3-D from the start — and having every bit of our special effects rendered in true 3-D — we have the opportunity to do it right,” Feige said. “When you’re working with a director like Ken Branagh or Joe Johnston, they’re not going to settle for less than perfect image. They’re not going to settle for something that isn’t up to the artistry of everything else they’ve done on the film … they’re not going to put on some overlay in the last 10 to 12 weeks of post-production for a fiscal reason.”

With “Thor,” especially, Feige said, the citadels of Asgard and the rainbow bridge at its gates lend themselves to 3-D. “It’s one of those maybe rare times where 3-D accentuates the story and the way the viewer is brought into this new world. That’s what ‘Avatar’ and ‘Alice in Wonderland’ were all about — going into new realms, new worlds … I think with the “Harry Potter” films and ours you’re about to see a slew of movies where 3-D was done by people who had the time.”

Now if you’re like me, you can’t help but be nervous about this.  I hated… and I mean HATED the 3-D on CLASH OF THE TITANS, and wasn’t exactly overwhelmed with the 3-D on ALICE IN WONDERLAND.  But then again, if these two Marvel films are shot keeping the 3-D retrofitting in mind, I guess it’s possible the end result could be cool.  In the end, I think (like I imagine many do) this 3-D craze needs to wear itself out, and fast.  The average moviegoer doesn’t seem to want to be bothered with it, and it (so far) isn’t translating to home video, so the only way to really experience it is with buying an overpriced theater ticket during the first few weeks of release.  What do you think?  Should THOR and CAP be 3-D?  Are you excited about these films, despite the wake of the Edward Norton not playing Hulk in THE AVENGERS news?  Let us know in the comments.

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