Straczynski talks Thor in Oklahoma

I like the juxtaposition of Norse gods with Middle America.

“I wanted to put this somewhere fresh, somewhere in the American heartland, and for a number of reasons, including the Heavener runestones, this seemed like the perfect place,” Straczynski said in an interview with The Oklahoman.

“In traditional mythology, you could be walking across an open field and run into Thor or Hercules or Diana, and I want to go back to that notion, putting the gods of Asgard in conversational range of average people, not just superheroes. I like the contrast of that, but at the same time there’s a complementary aspect as well.”

Asgard, the home of the Norse gods, will be rebuilt in Oklahoma as the series progresses.

“The area of the Heavener Runes will eventually come into play, but for the day-to-day stuff, I put the location in a big open area well west of Oklahoma City,” Straczynski said.

The Heavener Runestone is a 10-foot by 12-foot stone that some believe was marked by ancient Vikings. Other rune-stones have been found near Poteau and Shawnee.

Straczynski said he doesn’t think Thor’s status as the “god of thunder” will cause a stir in the Bible belt.

“My experience the few times I’ve been in Oklahoma has been that folks for the most part tend to be very accepting, and courteous and neighborly,” Straczynski said. “So I see the folks near Asgard being very welcoming to their new neighbors — inviting them to town meetings and dinners and the like. Sure, a few folks might slip in some church pamphlets to leave on chairs, but I really don’t see this being a big divisive point.”

And

“The supporting cast of Asgardians will be much the same as in the past — Heimdell and Sif and Balder and the rest — but there will also be a supporting cast drawn from the neighboring town: the woman who owns the small hotel where Donald Blake is staying, the cook at a local diner and his wife, just some average folks,” he said.

Thor has had a few “secret identities” in the past but returns to his original Marvel incarnation, that of Dr. Donald Blake, in the new series.

“I came up with kind of a cool way to bring back him and Thor so that their returns are both thematically similar and links them again at the hip,” Straczynski said.

Thor has been away from the Marvel Universe for a while, and Straczynski said he won’t react well to some of the actions in his absence, including Iron Man’s creation of a Thor clone.

Still, Thor will be mostly on his own for the first six months of the new run, at the writer’s request.