The press conference started half an hour late but who cares when you get the chance to speak to Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Christopher Eccleston and Kat Dennings?! The first question for the panel was actually from panel chair Chris Hewitt who asked the stars: ‘Are you team Thor or team Loki?’ This question was no laughing matter as director Alan Taylor responded by comparing the conundrum to ‘Sophie’s Choice’. Obviously, Malekith topped the poll.
Nine out of ten questions were directed at Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston, but despite this focus the rest of the cast were in incredibly good spirits, even notorious grump Eccleston, noted for being either absent or grumpy at press conferences. Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Productions and producer of THOR: THE DARK WORLD, also happily revealed that Marvel has its film timetable planned right up until 2017 and hinted that they want to make more television shows. This interesting statement was met with silence which could possibly have been construed as a reaction to the disappointing MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.
The majority of the film’s Earth scenes are set in London, and when asked about the differences between filming in the UK and Hollywood, Natalie Portman said:
“It’s hard to compare because we don’t actually shoot in Hollywood at all… I love working here and I’m really envious of British actors and British crews.”
THOR: THE DARK WORLD reunites Thor and Loki through a common enemy and gives audiences a quick glimpse at Loki’s softer side – blink and you’ll miss it. A member of the audience remarked on the somewhat surprising popularity of Loki, to which Chris Hemsworth gave Hiddleston full credit for:
“My hat goes off to Tom, and he’s done such an incredible job in every film, and hopefully we’ll keep seeing him more.”
The characters have definitely matured in THOR: THE DARK WORLD and been deeply affected by the events in THOR and MARVEL’S AVENGERS ASSEMBLE. Natalie Portman noted that Jane had to overcome her anger at Thor for abandoning her for two years, and went on to describe the daunting feeling of meeting your demigod boyfriend’s parents. We can all relate, right? Mr. Hemsworth discussed the maturity of his character, saying:
“After every film I look back and go, “Now I get it,” and I start the next one and say “I haven’t a clue what I’m doing.” And it’s nice to be able to approach a character again for a third time in a different way with a different director and a whole new bag of ideas and influences and ways to approach it. I grew as a person… [and] it was nice to have a more mature Thor who was less petulant and arrogant and teenager than the first one was at times.”
Of all the members of The Avengers, Tony Stark is arguably the funniest and has the most entertaining lines. However, Alan Taylor explained that the exponential and surprising increase in humour in THOR: THE DARK WORLD was pretty much accidental:
“We went into THOR: THE DARK WORLD with darker ideas…but came out with humour.”
A common theme that cropped up during the press conference was the strong familial bond between Odin, Frigga, Thor and Loki. But it was evident that these bonds had also been felt off-screen as there was a definite bromance going on between Hemsworth and Hiddleston. Even Dennings and Portman were longing for each other with Hemsworth sandwiched in between them on the panel. And perhaps the best way to end this feature is with this quote from Tom on Chris when asked about their characters’ relationship:
“I love you man. Loki is defined by Thor.”
Isn’t that sweet? Check out the pictures below, including my question to the feuding brothers (which happened to be the last question of the press conference).
THOR: THE DARK WORLD is in cinemas in the UK on 30th October and in the USA on 8th November.
Video courtesy of Andrew Edney.
