Empire, 5 October 2010
By Helen O'Hara

The publication of a new issue of Empire is always a fun day for us, and today we have a rather lovely Thor cover to get you through this grey and rainy Tuesday. And as if that weren't enough, here are a few tasters from director Kenneth Branagh himself on what we can expect from the Norse God.

"The issue of tone was crucial, because in the '60s run of comics it does get pretty camp. So the trick was finding a way to make a different kind of superhero - a god - compelling and arresting and not make him too flamboyant," says the former Shakespearean wunderkind.

"The script is an epic adventure with, at the centre, human dynamics. I looked at the relationships and saw brothers, mother, father and sons: the tight royal circle. When you get down to it, this is pure Shakespeare: it's a drama about familial problems concerning thse who possess great power."

"When I came along there had been several strands of development. One kept the movie entirely in the Viking era, and one was more fantastical. I wanted to do something that possibly touched on both. What appealed to me from the myths and comics was a sort of Prodigal Son story - of exile and return. That and the enjoyment of seeing a fish out of water. The notion of Asgardians coming to modern-day Earth was particularly important to me. I actually, coming from the direction of period drama, was the one most resistant to setting it entirely in a historical context."

For more from Branagh and star Chris Hemsworth, and loads more images from Thor, head on out and buy a copy of the November issue of Empire. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until the movie is released on April 29 next year.