Marvel Studios announced that Rene Russo (Lethal Weapon 3 &4, The Thomas Crown Affair) will join the cast of Thor, the upcoming movie based on their classic comic book character who is the Norse God of Thunder.

Russo will star as the Queen of Asgard, Frigga, mother of Thor and wife of Odin. No additional details have been announce about the role itself.

This is yet another addition to an already star-studded cast that includes Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Anthony Hopkins (Odin), Natalie Portman (Jane Foster), Stuart Townsend (Fandral), Tadanobu Asano (Hogun), and Ray Stevenson (Volstagg). Kenneth Branagh will direct the film, which will be released on May 20, 2011.

This is one of those odd casting announcements that kind of comes out of left field. It might have been something that wasn’t supposed to be known yet; it might end up being a complete misunderstanding. But for the moment, it is straight from the mouth of one of the stars, so we all run with it.

While speaking to MTV recently about her upcoming movie with Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal, Brothers, Natalie Portman was prompted to talk about her upcoming role in Thor and who of the fantastic and still-growing cast she was most excited to be working with. Portman surprised the interviewer and all who have since watched the video with her response: “Well I’m really excited, Kat Dennings is going to be in it with me and she’s a good friend and an amazing actress, so I’m looking forward to that,” the actress revealed. This is not a casting announcement that had been officially made yet, so now everyone is wondering who Miss Dennings could be playing.

Kenneth Branagh‘s upcoming adaptation of the Norse god comic book superhero Thor is showing up in the news more and more often these days, and with each and every new morsel, the excitement for the movie builds up steadily. The latest news announcement from Marvel is that Thor’s Asgardian god friends the Warriors Three — Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun — have now been cast!

Branagh has contracted the talents of Stuart Townsend to play the role of Fandral, Tadanobu Asano for Hogun, and the fantastic Ray Stevenson for the part of Volstagg. Townsend is best known for his work as the vampire Lestat in Queen of the Damned and as Dorian Gray in The League of Extraordinary Gentleman. Stevenson recently ended many lives in Punisher: Warzone, but is best used as a brutal warrior, as he has played in King Arthur and on HBO’s Rome. Asano is a Japanese actor who hasn’t done an American film yet, but he appeared in the Oscar nominated Mongol.