The Mighty THOR

I know everyone is excited about this weekend's premiere (at least here in the U.S.) of Thor, the latest superhero extravaganza from Marvel studios. At least I am, for my usual selfish reasons: I helped do some consulting (through the Science and Entertainment Exchange) for the movie. Also, there is a mystical hammer that smashes things; what's not to like? [embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHBnrJowBZE[/embed] Unlike TRON: Legacy, where we came in after the screenplay had been drafted, on Thor we came in near the beginning. Marvel had done a lot of work on the idea, but there wasn't yet a script. The Exchange set up a consult meeting with director Kenneth Branagh, the screenwriter, and few people on the design and production side of things, along with three scientists -- Jim Hartle from USCB, Kevin Hand from JPL, and myself. We bandied around lots of issues relating to the Thor universe and how ...