Chris Hemsworth unaware of Thor cartoon

Chris Hemsworth knew more about the Norse mythology of Thor than the Marvel cartoon character.

The Australian actor - who stars as the God-turned-man in the Kenneth Branagh-directed action movie - was mostly unaware of the comic background of the role before he signed up to star and had six months to read a "stack" of comics to get up to scratch.

He told BANG Showbiz: "When I got the part six months before and I received a stack of comic books. I knew vaguely a little bit about the character I wasn't sure were from.

"I probably knew more about the Vikings, the Norse mythology setting of it all. When I got the part it was about educating myself and going through the books."

However his co-star Tom Hiddleston, who plays Thor's brother Loki in the film, was more knowledgeable has he had a card game based on the heroes.

He added: "As a child I actually had a deck of Marvel top trump cards. You can get cards with racing cars or football players and I had all the Marvel superheroes and super villains in a deck.

"I used to play it with my friends so literally every character you can think of are all listed according to their height and weight and agility and superpowers and Thor and Loki are in there so that was my memory."