We’ve had more than our fair share of Thor casting rumors, but it looks like we can finally put the guessing games to rest. Kenneth Branagh has found his leading man, and according to Nikke Finke, it’s Chris Hemsworth! Wait…who? Good question.

Recent moviegoers might recognize Hemsworth as the Australian actor who portrays George Kirk, father to Chris Pine’s James T. Kirk, in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek. Our more loyal (and attentive) followers will also recall hearing a couple months back that Hemsworth was one of the young actors to join Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard’s horror pic, Cabin in the Woods. The 25 year-old certainly has the right look, but I haven’t seen enough of his work to know how to gauge him properly. I still would have loved to see Alexander Skarsgard get the part, but Hemsworth has an intriguing enough aura of mystery around him (probably because we haven’t seen any of his stuff) and a good enough vibe to leave us optimistically curious about how he’ll handle the part. His audition tape was reportedly “Oh my god” good, so that’s gotta be worth something.

I’m also a sucker for a good story, and Hemsworth and his younger brother Liam fit that bill. Chris made the trek to L.A. from Australia after he caught the eye of a talent manager. He did the rounds with agents, casting directors, and executives, only to get passed over a bunch of times. One agent eventually saw something in him and took him on. He went on to get some decent gigs here and there, but mostly small roles that didn’t give him much shine. Then Thor came along, and though both brothers read for the role, both were passed on (nixed by a casting director, reportedly). But then Sylvester Stallone saw Liam’s tape and was impressed enough to offer him a part in The Expendables. Meanwhile Chris’ manager got him another chance to test for Thor, and this time he knocked it out of the park. So, while still living out of their manager’s guest room, Liam (who’s only been in L.A. three weeks and doesn’t have an agent yet) has landed a part in The Expendables and also the lead in a Nicholas Sparks movie (co-starring Miley Cyrus), while Chris has now gotten Thor to go along with his just-announced casting as the lead in United Artists’ reboot of Red Dawn. Not a bad start to a couple of careers, I’d say.

In any case, I’m glad to see Marvel finally get over this hump in the pre-production process. They already pushed Thor’s release date back almost a full year to May 20, 2011 so the film could have time to be finished; let’s hope that with their hero now found, they can get this thing closer to production.

Tags: Chris Hemsowrth, Kenneth Branagh, Liam Hemsworth, Marvel, Thor