Marvel Animation has announced that they are developing and self-producing a 26-episode animated series based on the long-running comic “Thor”. It is scheduled to premiere on TV in 2010, following Marvel’s live-action “Thor” feature, which is scheduled to hit theaters July 2010, part of Marvel’s independently-produced film franchise based on their characters.

The supporting cast will include the classic Thor characters the Warriors Three, Balder the Brave, and Thor’s evil adopted brother, Loki, Thor’s evil adopted brother and the Norse trickster god. The show is described as the God of Thunder defending his home, the mythical Asgard, against “fantastical villains, fiendish hordes, winged creatures and angry giants” according to the press release from The Hollywood Reporter.

The title is one of several upcoming animated shows from Marvel, including a much-anticipated “Black Panther” cartoon for the cable network BET, the Nickelodeon “Iron Man: Armored Adventures” cartoon, and the other most-recently announced “Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” cartoon.

Marvel’s Thor, based on the mythological Norse god of thunder, first premiered in “Journey Into Mystery” in 1962 and has been a staple character for the company, having his own solo series as well as appearing in guest spots in other titles and being a founding member of the superhero team the Avengers. The character has recently returned with a new solo title that began in September of 2007 and is still running.

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By Costa Koutsoutis, (Source: The Hollywood Reporter)