Marvel has released the first official image of Chris Hemsworth as Thor and if you thought the studio was going to somehow reinvent one of its iconic characters for his movie debut...think again.  As you can clearly see, Thor has a cape and he's definitely inspired by the awesome work of Jack Kirby.

With Iron Man 2 getting released around the world today (America has to wait a week), you might wonder why Paramount and Marvel would release the first Thor image on the same day.  I think I might have some answers.  Hit the jump for my thoughts and the image:

With Thor set to get released May 20, 2011, you knew the first look would be arriving soon.  But the same day as Iron Man 2 getting released?  That did shock me.  Unless you start to analyze why.

A few days ago, the first image of The Destroyer from Thor leaked.  As many of you already know, Thor is currently filming in New Mexico and the leaked image looks like it was shot somewhere in the desert.

I think Marvel got nervous a spy is in their camp and instead of letting the first image of Chris Hemsworth as Thor get leaked to some random website they can't control, they're putting out the first image where they want it to be and they get to control just how much we see.

Also, perhaps they're filming near a location with a lot of people and they're nervous some eager fans will take pictures of Hemsworth in costume and they'll be everywhere. So even if that happens now, they've taken the cat out of the bag and it's very smart marketing.

With Comic-Con fast approaching, I'm 100% sure the world will get its first look at movie footage from Thor in July.  After all, what better place to premiere footage than Comic-Con. But there is always a chance we'll get our first teaser trailer on Iron Man 2. If that's the case we'll know very soon.

But back to the image.  Gotta say, it looks awesome.  The big question is....when will we get our first official look at Mjolnir and does he wear a helmet?

Here's the official Thor synopsis:

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.

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(image via Yahoo Movies)