Idris Elba is portraying two comic book characters. One is a Norse God and the other is an ex special forces operative. What do these two characters have in common (besides Elba)? Both were originally drawn as white characters. Elba touches base on how barriers are being broken down in casting after a press conference for The Losers.
On Roque, from
The Losers, being originally a white character:
"There was no reflection on that in the screenplay but I definitely used Roque in the comic book as my skeleton to build my Roque. So I stayed as true as I could to him. The scar was the only physical attribute that I took from the comic book and applied to myself. Other than that, I just used his personality, his persona in the comic book to make my Roque."
The actor is taking the same approach portaying Heimdall in next year's
Thor
"Yeah, casting now is taking definitely a more open-eyed approach to it. I was cast in Thor and I’m cast as a Nordic god. If you know anything about the Nords, they don’t look like me but there you go. I think that’s a sign of the times for the future. I think we will see multi-level casting. I think we will see that and I think that’s good."
With
Thor do you look at the comic books or Nordic mythology?
"I looked at the comic books actually because Heimdall, he’s a very central character and I wanted to reflect him as he is in the comic books."
Elba was also asked what his character will look like in
Thor?
"[Laughs] I look like how he’s designed, man. I can’t say but he looks phenomenal."
Will Heimdall get any action scenes?
"Yeah, I do, yeah. I can’t say, brother, but it’s really, really cool."
In the comics, Heimdall is the brother of the warrior Sif. He is the all-seeing and all-hearing guardian sentry of Asgard, he stands on the rainbow bridge, Bifrost and stands watch for any attacks to Asgard.
Update: IESB also talked to Elba while the actor was out promoting
The Losers. Here is the excerpt on Thor:
IESB: Now that you’re doing Thor, what’s it like to be a part of a big adventure epic?
Idris: It’s great. Thor is really, really an epic drama that has Thor as the centerpiece. I'm playing Heimdall, which is great. It feels like a big play. Kenneth Branagh is paying attention to detail. I'm very proud to be there. It's really special.
IESB: For those who aren't familiar with the story, who is Heimdall?
Idris: Everyone in Thor comes from Asgard – Odin and Thor. Asgard is protected by Heimdall. So, if you come in or leave Asgard, you have to go through his observatory, which is pretty much where all of my scenes are.
IESB: Will the costumes have a traditional look?
Idris: I can’t say too much about it. It’s traditional, in the sense of what the comic book has. They're being very cognizant about that and trying to make that authentic. At the same time, it’s a movie, so you can embellish it a little bit more.
For the full interview go
HERE.
DogsOfWar-Personally, I don't mind changes like these for non-iconic characters. Still not a whole lot revealed but it sounds like his role will be integral to the movie with multiple scenes at Bifrost.