''Almighty Thor'' is a 2011 American

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

directed by Christopher Olen Ray. The film, a mockbuster coinciding with the release of the

Marvel Studios Marvel Studios, LLC, formerly known as Marvel Films, is an American film and television production company. Marvel Studios is the creator of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), a media franchise and shared universe of films and television ser ...

film ''

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

'', was produced by The Asylum for $200,000. It premiered on the Syfy cable network on May 7, 2011 and was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

on May 10, 2011 in the United States.Dread Central - The Asylum's ''Almighty Thor'' Hammers Kevin Nash, Richard Grieco and a Top Model
/ref> The film was met with a largely negative response from critics. Loosely inspired by

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

, the film follows the young warrior

( Cody Deal) in his battle against

Loki Loki is a Æsir, god in Norse mythology. He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mythology), Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi (son of Lo ...

( Richard Grieco). In 2022, The Asylum released a second Thor film titled ''Thor: God of Thunder''.

Plot

When the god of deception

( Richard Grieco) wipes off the city of

Valhalla In Norse mythology, Valhalla ( , ; , )Orchard (1997:171–172) is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. There were five possible realms the soul could travel to after death. The first was Fólkvang ...

to steal the Hammer Of Invincibility, only the young hero

( Cody Deal) can recover the cities from evil. When Thor's father and older brother are killed in a futile attempt to retrieve the hammer from Loki, a Valkyrie named Jarnsaxa ( Patricia Velásquez) attempts to train a naïve and inexperienced warrior Thor to fight Loki. This leads them on a short quest from their training camp, to the Tree of Inventory to collect a sword and shield and then to a small city where Loki attempts to hypnotize the refusing residents into serving as his minions by bringing on a wipeout with a small army of demon beasts. When Thor is about to be defeated, he must forge his own fate to save the city and reclaim the Hammer Of Invincibility from Loki once and for all.

Cast

* Cody Deal as

* Richard Grieco as

* Patricia Velásquez as

Járnsaxa Járnsaxa (; Old Norse: , ("iron dagger") is a jötunn in Norse mythology. In Snorri Sturluson's ''Prose Edda'', she is portrayed as Thor's lover and as the mother of Magni, a child with supernatural powers. Name The Old Norse name ''Járnsaxa ...

Kevin Nash Kevin Scott Nash (born July 9, 1959) is an American actor, podcaster and retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is also known for his tenures in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Ac ...

Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...

* Jess Allen as Baldir * Chris Ivan Cevic as Himdall * Rodney Wilson as

Hrothgar Hrothgar ( ; ) was a semi-legendary Danish king living around the early sixth century AD. Hrothgar appears in the Anglo-Saxon epics ''Beowulf'' and '' Widsith'', in Norse sagas and poems, and in medieval Danish chronicles. In both Anglo-Saxon ...

* Kristen Kerr as

Herja In Norse mythology Herja (Old Norse) is a valkyrie attested in the longer of the two ''Nafnaþulur'' lists found in the ''Prose Edda''.Jónsson (1973:678). Rudolf Simek says the name is etymology, etymologically related to the Old Norse ''herja'' ...

* Charlie Glackin as Hundig * Nicole Fox as Redhead Norn * Leslea Fisher as Blonde Norn * Lauren Halperin as Brunette Norn * William Webb as Street Punk * Jason Medbury as the Tree of Life Guardian

Release

''Almighty Thor'' premiered on May 7, 2011, near the time of release of

' ''

'',

Reception

''Almighty Thor'' received largely negative reviews from critics. Reviewing the film for ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'', Phil Dyess-Nugent gave ''Almighty Thor'' a rating of "D−", taking issue with the film's low budget: "The film is so underpopulated that most of the awful deaths Loki inflicts go down off-camera; he points his stick or gives a command to his dogs, and then you hear somebody holler, "Argghhhh!!"" Dyess-Nugent also criticized the acting of the leads and took issue with the producer's decision to shoot the LA scenes in abandoned parking lots: "The comic high point is a fight between Thor and Loki, with the guys spinning around and waving their weapons at each other while keeping one eye peeled for cops who might demand to see their filming permit." The Blueprint website review of the film stated, "This brain numbing 80 minutes of constant noise, cheap effects, background music that never once stops and ropey acting will test the patience of even the most hardened B-movie aficionado... ''Almighty Thor'' was just one giant headache of a film." In a humorous and ironic review, Stuart Heritage from

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

declared that ''Almighty Thor'' was better than the Marvel film on which it was based.

References

External links

Almighty Thor (4 Stars)

''Almighty Thor''
at The Asylum * {{IMDb title, 1792794
Cody Deal Interview for ''Almighty Thor''

February 2011 Interview with Cody Deal
2011 direct-to-video films 2010s fantasy adventure films 2011 independent films 2011 films British fantasy adventure films 2010s English-language films 2010s superhero films The Asylum films American mockbuster films Direct-to-video fantasy films Films about Thor Films shot in Los Angeles British superhero films Syfy original films Films directed by Christopher Ray British action adventure films 2010s British films Films with screenplays by Eric Forsberg English-language fantasy adventure films English-language independent films English-language action adventure films