First Look: The Destroyer, From Marvel's Upcoming Thor

There's been a lot of consternation about spoilers today, thanks to the news that went around about the very final scene of Iron Man 2. When Peter ran that info for us he hid it behind quite a few spoiler warnings.

Now I'll do the same for the first image of a character from Marvel's Thor. A snapshot of The Destroyer hit the web today, and while you can see the character as he appears in a couple comic incarnations above, hit the break to see how he'll appear in Thor.

Or: do so if you're ready to begin the process of knowing all about the next Marvel movie. Small spoilers definitely await.

Latino Review got this pic today, and unfortunately it's not super-high resolution. Head over there to check it out in full.

What LR says is that the provider of this image also says that the character is about nine feet tall, and is sent to Earth by Loki to take out Thor.

I'm curious about this particular suit/prop. In the full pic you can see that it doesn't seem to be very mobile, as it is weighted down with sandbags at the feet. Is this a reference sculpt? The pic makes it look quite detailed and finished, which suggests it is more than that. But it's not a great pic, so we can't really tell. If this is revealed to be fake, I wouldn't be all that surprised, but we'll go with it as real for now.

So, for those who don't read Thor, what the hell is The Destroyer? Wikipedia summarizes:

The Destroyer is an enchanted suit of armor forged by Odin, and when it first appeared it was hinted that the Destroyer had been created as a weapon to face some dark menace from the stars. It is first seen residing in the Temple of darkness in Asia. The Destroyer is used by Thor's arch-foe Loki on several occasions, and each time has actually come close to killing Thor.

As is so often the case with Marvel villains, especially one that has been around for over forty years, The Destroyer has worked with and for a few different characters and purposes. It has even been a herald of Galactus for some time. (That's the same gig that brought the Silver Surfer to Earth.)

Beyond the basic info above, we don't know much about what role the character has in the film, directed by Kenneth Branagh. The synopsis for Thor as we have it goes like this, and it seems evident that the Destroyer is one of the 'darkest forces' sent to Earth:

The film follows the mighty Thor (Chris Hemsworth), a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and is forced to live among humans. A beautiful young scientist, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), has a profound effect on Thor, as she ultimately becomes his first love. It's while here on Earth that Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth.

Image removed at legal request of Paramount Pictures