Kenneth Branagh's Thor began principal photography about a month ago, yet no images of the sets, costumes or actors have been revealed. It's apparent that Marvel Studios is fervently trying to keep a closed set, more than likely to increase the anticipation of fans.
Well all know that patience is not the most well recognized trait of comic movie fans. The tighter the security around a film's set, the more time we spend trying to work around it. We cross-reference filming locations, scour the internet for script details and interview anyone that might have heard the director or a crew member discussing details of the film. Devious? Perhaps. Difficult? Very. Worthwhile? Absolutely!
Now, on to the. . . disturbing part. The image in question has been tossed back and forth tonight across Twitter. Twitter can be a gold mine of secreted information and at times also be as reliable as IMDb's castings for movies that don't exist.
WARNING: The following image could very well cause fits of anger amongst comic book purists
Is it possible that the studio who brought Iron Man to the big screen so accurately be behind this rendering of the God of Thunder? If so, what has happened to the mighty Mjolnir?
I've had no luck attempting to track down the source of this image, which is clearly labeled as a conceptual design for the
Thor film. So now I will turn it over to you CBM sleuths. Can you find out the origin of this unconfirmed artwork, and if it is in anyway related to the highly anticipated film?
UPDATE: The artwork IS for a Thor movie. . . just not the live-action one. . .
This conceptual piece is the work of artist Dan Panosian. He describes how it came about on his website:
"Want to a funny story that will bring a tear to your eye?
Of course you do. You're still reading this. So I get a call from an Art Director friend of mine on Saturday as I was preparing to get my place ready for the Fedor/Arlovski fight. He asked me if I could submit a last minute design for the Thor movie that Marvel is doing.
Over course I was thrilled. They needed it Monday morning. Fine, whatever! They could of needed it in a few hours and I would of complied. It's Thor! Hell, I did design work for [link] Superhero, the Movie - I was waiting for a REAL superhero movie to come along!
Anyway, I factored in a few things. Like creating a suit that could successfully pad an actor and give him some heroic bulk, etc. I also knew that the colors had to be a bit more subdued than the Kirby comic book. And sadly, I had to come up with something that wouldn't look ridiculous on. A tall order.
So, I did what I could and enjoyed every minute of it. I managed about 65% of what I envisioned. Generally that's a decent success when it comes to applying your vision to paper.
I even incorporated the marks on Thor's plates into his logo...
Here's the sad part. I turned it in and that's when the AD mentioned it was a design for the ANIMATED movie. I just assumed it was for the Live Action film I've heard buzz about... Clearly I need to learn to ask more questions...!"
You can see loads of Dan's work by clicking on the image below; which showcases cover art he designed for the video game
X-Men Legends II:
Many thanks to CBM users grtman, whtGuardian and SHHH for their expedient research which put an end to the question at hand! Now all we need is a catchy phrase like Avengers Assemble! or Shazam! for the next time I call upon your skills.