"Thor" Updates on Donald Blake

When talking with MTV News, Natalie Portman revealed that "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" actress Kat Dennings had joined the cast of “Thor,” but she did not reveal what role the new cast member would have.

According to Variety, Dennings will play Darcy, a coworker of Portman’s Jane Foster. Both women will portray characters who work int he medical field.

It's interesting to note that the Variety report describes the story as focusing on a “partly disabled med student who discovers his Norse god alter ego, the hammer-swinging Thor.”

For those unfamiliar with the comics, this med student goes by the name of Donald Blake who’s Thor’s other identity. Thor’s farther, Odin, wanted to have his son learn humility and thereby puts Thor into the body of Donald Blake as an act of punishment for his reckless behavior. Blake suffers from a lame leg and Thor acquires his memories while losing his own of being a god prior to this event.

However, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige stated that Donald Blake would not be in the “Thor” movie during a press conference held last June.

Does this mean that Donald Blake will be in the “Thor” movie after all? Not necessarily. Variety’s statement about the story indicates that Blake will be in the film, but it may only include him during a part of the movie (and not center on him).
So while it may be obvious that Donald Blake will be included, or at least introduced, in the "Thor" movie – especially with the fact that Natalie Portman is playing a nurse of Blake’s and his love interest – It may not be the case. Hercules at Ain’t It Cool News may have found otherwise. From Hercules’s post:

“Variety’s assertion contradicted some of what we’ve heard, so we contacted a 100% tested and solid source, someone intimately familiar with the movie Kenneth Branagh is making, and he or she tells AICN Donald Blake is definitely NOT in the movie.”

If he’s cast down to Earth, and assuming director Kenneth Branagh isn’t completely abandoning that specific aspect of the Thor comics, then Blake must be in the movie. Either that or the original comic storyline is being altered and Thor comes down as himself but without his powers.

Then what are Natalie Portman and Kat Dennings’ roles for and how will they interact with the title character? Should Donald Blake be in the movie or not?

"Thor" hits theaters May 20, 2011.
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Source: MTV News, Screen Rant