Black Thor Actor Talks About Racist Comic Book Fans

[Sunrider]

For reference: I still haven't seen the movie.

Personally, I don't care, because I never read the comics, and if he does a good job, then that's perfectly fine with me.
With that said, it's not like I don't understand their thoughts on the matter. I would find it weird if they made like a Dragon Age movie and casted a black guy to play Alistair.

 

[emeraldrafael]

I thought this was old news.

Anyway, yeah. He's black. I'm sorry if anyone who's nordic feels offended because of their beliefs, but can we please get past it?

I mean, I hear the guys actually a decent actor.

 

[F'Angus]

He was epic in the movie anyways

 

[Hive Mind]

A black guy shouldn't have been cast there.

Norse gods are white. They are not made up - they are part of a real religion (how real they are is besides the point). Having a black guy shat all over the immersion.

Shall we have a white, female midget play Obama in a doco about his life?

 

[Mj0ln1r]

This is not a histroic movie, its a comic book adaptation!! He could be a lizard or an alien (like in stargate SG1) for my concern!

 

[Caligulove]

It's a fucking movie. Not to mention color-blind casting can turn into some fantastic performances once people realize that unless a character's skin tone is directly involved in the plot somehow- then it really doesnt matter who the fuck plays the character, only matters who can best perform.

That and I should also express my disdain that my ancestors and their ancient culture have been fucked up and perverted by skinhead neo-nazi fuckheads. Seriously, ruin the previously ambivalent or peaceful symbol of the swastika and then you try to ruin the image of my people's heritage by making them some kind of aryan super-beings. Fuck. You.

 

[mikev7.0]

He did an excellent job, and I'm glad they used him for it. It probably only made the movie more epic.

I can't wait for Captain America and the other avenger movies now...

I do wonder when Moviebob'll do Thor, this week, next week? Who nows.

I'm wondering when someone will do a proper review of the game! I put up some first impressions but that's all I've been able to find. Moot point now for me really, I love the game. I think the same actor plays Heimdall in it as well since SEGA seems to be trying to use all the same actors as are in the movie. I also can't wait to see it (I have to wait until Friday) and the other Avengers movies (are they making one for Hawkeye or the Pyms? Casting Jan should be fun, good luck trying to find someone like her in Hollywood! Maybe Anne Hathaway with short hair....)

I don't understand why this is still an issue at all. Geez what did they think about Nick Fury then?

Now I'd like to see the story about Cap attacking the tea party!

 

[Angron]

while i admit (shamefully) that the fact he was black caught me by surprise at first I can see why they picked him...like everyone else has said, he was by far the best character in it

also did every overlook the asian guy too? he might be white but hes still not nordic...if your gonna point out one then why not the other...

but the fact he was black didnt effect the movie watchin experience in any way...but then im not a fan of the comic...i do like nordic history tho...and hes white in that...and i didnt give a...

 

[twaddle]

The last airbender was white washed absolutely, but the movie sucked so you can't really care that much, but the black Norse god thing in Thor i don't really know. I think the racist are twits. I beleive their are black warriors in valhalla but i would have been more comfortable if this guy played Loki. I am black English american by the way

 

[iron skirt]

I find this hole situations funny because it remindes me of the scandal Avatar had for NOT haveing black aeliens. That said, at least those ware idiots fighting for a good cause... I understand the hole "he's a norse god so he can't be black" argument but come on dudes, stop beeng racist. And the hole "he wase with in the comics" argument is stupid. Nick Fury wase with in the original comiscs then became black (if i'm not mistaking... i never actualy read comics).

 

[Wargamer]

I want to make two things here:

1) I absolutely, and without remorse, HATE the casting of non-white people "just so there's a non-white cast member". If the only reason you can think of for someone to be in the film is so that the Black Power movement won't be accusing you of being White Supremacists, don't hire the guy.

2) Heimdall was very nearly the most awesome character in the movie, and I honestly cannot imagine anyone else playing that role.

 

[mikev7.0]

I'm pretty sure that Nick Fury was originally white. I know that he was black in comics before the movies but he was definitely white first. It's not exactly a new thing, is all I'm saying. Also, Elba was awesome in Thor and I wouldn't change him just to fit in a little bit better with the traditional canon. Things don't always have to change for the worse.

I think Fury is only black in the Ultimate 'verse, maybe one or two more. Of course, in the Ultimates he looks exactly like Samuel L. Jackson. I wonder why that might be...

The funny thing is that they mentioned that in the comics or in the book novels of the Ultimates. "Funny, Nick kind of looks like that actor Samuel L. Jackson...." But Hell, I thought Gods came in all sorts of hues. Booo hooo Everyone in Thor isn't white. Hell, are you going to complain if Captain America treats a black man correctly in Captain America? I can see the Avengers movie now, there is going to be conflict in the group because Steve Rogers doesn't want to be commanded by a "darkie".

Um, yeah. I'm pretty sure you're being sarcastic but just to be clear? That wouldn't happen.
By the way there has been an African American Captain America as well.

 

[Lordpils]

I was already going to go see the movie, the fact that it pisses off racists just makes me want to give them my money more.

 

[Puzzlenaut]

Think of it this way:

Although you might think "yeah, I'm fine with that. Doesn't really affect anything all that much" (my view), imagine if instead a character who was always black (the Black Panther or Luke Cage for example) was cast as a white person. There would be absolute uproar!


Still, I'm not bothered by this at all.

 

[messy]

Only his awesomeness should decide.

Also Marvel made Nick Fury black in ultimates, why can't they make someone black in their own film? Last time I checked its a Marvel Studios Production.

Also its not like they got just any old random black guy just to tick an ethnic box, Elba. One of the best actors in the entire "The Wire" show

 

[JDKJ]

Putting on the devil's advocate cap for a minute.

To the people on Elba's side: what would be the reaction to a movie based on, say, African tribal mythology, with a white cast? Ethically speaking, how would that affect your opinion of this casting decision?

Spoiler

Or do you a maaaaaayyyybe have a little bit of a bias, when it comes to the white-black dichotomy?

Just food for thought.

Hmmm, not really equatable. The entire Thor cast hasn't been made black, its just one guy. If they'd turned everyone in Thor black I'd have raised a few eyebrows, just as if they turned everyone in an African tribal myth white.
But if they made a film based on an African tribal myth and one guy was white, I'd be fine with that. I'm pretty sure there was an Orisha who's skin was white as bone

I don't think so. Back in East Africa, the Yoruba made depictions of the orishas that resemble themselves (i.e., they looked "black" or "African"). It wasn't until the religion was brought by slaves to the New World and hidden under Catholicism that depictions of the deities took on the characteristics of the white Catholic saints. Shango, for example, who is associated with thunder and lightening became in many cultures to be represented by St. Barbara who, in the Catholic legend, is also associated with lightening.

No, I'm pretty sure they had at least one white Orisha. I guess to make them stand out, or possibly for symbolic reasons, the same way smith gods in Europe are generally crippled.
I may be thinking of Obatala of the White Cloth, who I'm sure I've seen portrayed as actually being white (though at the same time not looking at all human) not just wearing it, or maybe Eleggua who may have had a half-and-half thing going where one side of him was black and the other white as a symbol of his gatekeeper-ish nature

If you can provide me an African-era depiction of any orisha as even partially white, I'd appreciate that. That would be something I've never seen.

Eleggua is often depicted as two-colored, but it's black and red, not black and white. And most physical depictions of him that you'll find in your local botanica look like this:

 

[Lord_Kristof]

Well, I'm no racist, but this choice did raise an eyebrow, if only because it does seem weird to cast an African-American as a Norse god. Not much ethnic diversity up North, you know? But I'm happy to hear he's doing a good job in the movie. After all, this is based on a comic book, so I guess that as much as this makes no god-damn sense, it doesn't really hurt anybody.

 

[TakerFoxx]

I've yet to see the movie, but from what I can tell, Heimdall is awesome in it, and I look forward to see him kick some ass.

Still, something's been kind of bothering me. If I may take my turn as devil's advocate, back when they were trying to put together a film of Neil Gaiman's book Anansi Boys, one of the studio's demands was that the cast be all white, despite the fact that it dealt with an African god and the characters are noted in the book to be black. After Gaiman pulled the plug and all this came to light, people such as myself were outraged that (among other reasons) the studio could be so dumb to try to make an African deity white.

I know the situations aren't exactly the same, as no one forced anyone to cast Heimdall. And I know Heimdall was apparently the perfect man for the job, and I'm not going to split hairs over that. Still, teknoarcanis did raise a decent point. Why the change from black-to-white absolutely horrendous while no one is allowed to be bothered by the inverse?