Stan Lee speaks of ‘sacred’ connection with Brisbane

In his last Brisbane interview, late comic maestro Stan Lee told of his special connection with the city — and his views on Chris Hemsworth as Thor.

WHEN comic book king Stan Lee came to Brisbane last year for the Supanova pop culture expo, he was quick to call the city’s streets “sacred ground’’ because of the location shoots for Thor: Ragnarok.

In a Queensland exclusive a then-upbeat Lee said he was excited to be in Queensland where the movie Thor: Ragnarok was filmed and joked he even expected a welcome from his superhero creation, the God of Thunder.

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“I’m walking on sacred ground. When I arrived here I was very disappointed not to be welcomed by Thor riding in on a chariot with his hammer, gliding through space,’’ joked Lee, only a few hours after then touching down in Brisbane.

“I suppose I should have given Thor more warning and the message didn’t get through to Asgard in time.’’

Lee wanted to come to Queensland because Thor, from the fantastical realm of Asgard, was one of his favourite characters. He said that his age was not going to keep him away from visiting his Australian fans.

“I go all over, anywhere my fans are,’’ he said.

“It’s not amazing I’m here, I just had to sit in a plane, I wasn’t piloting it.’’

Lee had the highest praise for Byron Bay-based superstar Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor.

Hemsworth may have endured a tough audition process to prove himself as a mighty Norse god for the initial Thor movie (2011) but Lee revealed he was exactly as he imagined Thor when he co-created the look of the character, inspired by Norse mythology, with artist Jack Kirby in 1962.

“Chris couldn’t be better, I think he really is Thor and he just pretends to be an actor,’’ Lee joked.

“Chris is a good Thor because he looks the way I imagined and he speaks the way Thor should speak.

“The only person who might be better is myself, but I’m too busy to play him.

“I knew as soon as I saw Chris’s audition I knew we had found our Thor, especially after I saw him fly down using the hammer.’’

Lee said he enjoyed a “fun’’ cameo as Thor’s barber in last year’s Thor: Ragnarok and said he added a line to the movie himself.

Stan Lee in Australia last year for Supanova

He didn’t come to Queensland to film the cameo; rather it was filmed in Atlanta, another popular moviemaking destination where .

In the first movie Thor Stan Lee cameoed as a New Mexico truck, and then in the sequel Thor: The Dark World Lee was back as an institutionalised patient, but he saved his funniest moment for the final film in the trilogy.

It is Lee who gives the God of Thunder his “liberated new look’’. Lee is seen with shearers, and afterwards Hemsworth is sporting a much shorter hairdo.

Lee appears as some sort of twisted Edward Scissorhands to provide Thor’s clean-cut appearance.

In the scene Lee says in the movie to Thor: “Don’t move, my hands aren’t as steady as they used to be.”

When Lee starts the crazy rotating shearers Thor pleads: “Please kind sir, don’t cut my hair.”

Lee’s dastardly sounding laugh is heard in the background.

Later in the film Thor mentions the “creepy old guy’’ who chopped off his flowing locks.

“Somebody had to cut his hair so it might as well be his Papa, I suppose I’m standing in for his legal papa Odin,’’ he said.

“He (Thor) really wasn’t being easy in that barber’s chair to have his hair cut, I mean he’s a God so his hair grows back almost in a week.’’

Lee said he loved reading about the tales of the Greek, Roman and Norse Gods when he was a young boy growing up in poverty in New York so when he wanted to create a new superhero in the 1960s he automatically turned to the Gods.

“The Gods were the superheroes of my time so when I had an opportunity to write about a new superhero I knew I wanted a God. I loved how Thor was so strong, I loved his hammer and I loved the fact he had a strong human identity when he wasn’t being Thor. It all came together so I’m sure glad he did.’’

“It makes me tremendously happy to have written anything and produced anything and for people to enjoy for ten years and for 20 years… maybe Thor might last forever. Personally I love Thor and I love the idea of him having this relationship on Earth.’’

Lee also praised the “brilliance’’ of artist Kirby who was able to capture the look Lee wanted for his Norse God.

It appears fans will receive a final chance to see Lee reunited again with Thor and his superhero creations, because the as-yet-untitled Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 director Joe Russo has hinted that Lee had already filmed his iconic cameo for the film which is due for release early next year

Originally published as Stan Lee speaks of ‘sacred’ connection with Brisbane