Marvel Feared Thor Would Look Too Much Like…Fabio?
2008’s Iron Man catapulted Marvel Studios into the limelight and set in motion their heavily planned cinematic universe. There were worries surrounding Iron Man’s successors; Specifically, Marvel feared Thor would look too much like…Fabio?
The director of 2011’s Thor, Kenneth Branagh, spoke to the uncertainty and fear in Marvel as the first film of the Asgardian was in the works.
“The terror was, ‘don’t let it be Fabio.’ I was aware that [Marvel Excectuives] Kevin Feige, Louis D’espositio, and Victoria Alonso knew that Thor was critical to them, to tonally find a way to sit alongside Roberts brilliant Tony Stark and Captain America.”
The veteran director and actor continues, “This new dimension, the fantastical space adventure, needed to find its starting place.”
That’s right; Marvel specifically feared that Thor would look too much like Fabio.
Looking at the character of Thor, the fear in Marvel was understandable. There was undoubtedly concern in being able to form in that character what the studio had found in Downey’s Iron Man and Evan’s Steve Rogers.
Although the comparison between Thor actor Chris Hemsworth’s grizzled godly figure and the 80’s icon of Fabio Ianzoni doesn’t seem to quite hold up at first glance.
Before 2011, a long blonde-haired, muscle-clad figure, who was never shy to display his physique, doesn’t elicit many images outside of the former male model that is Fabio.
The fear seemed to be grounded in Marvel’s worry that fans wouldn’t take the God of Thunder seriously. The hammer-wielding son of Odin, rooted in mythology, burdened by old English dialogue, while exploring a cosmic backdrop doesn’t seem like the easiest sell to most fans.
Fast forward ten years and Thor has become one of Marvel’s tent pole franchises. The irony seems to be, what makes Thor special, is that he has come to not take himself seriously.
The Taika Waititi orchestrated Thor: Ragnarok– the third film in the characters saga- reinvented the character into one of Marvel’s most popular.
Hemsworth’s willingness to tap into the comedic side of Thor has endeared him to fans; and granted him a special place among the big three.
Where Thor was once exhausting due to his seriousness and lack of charm, the character now never takes things too seriously and embraces his endless whit.
The reinvention has made the character so crucial to the studio that he remains the only character to exceed the usual trilogy model that Marvel employs; getting his fourth film, Thor Love and Thunder, in Marvel’s Phase 4.
Luckily for MCU fans, Kenneth Branagh didn’t make Fabio one of the original avengers.