Addendum to Avengers Movie Cast

Warning: this article MAY contain spoilers. On the other hand, it could be a load of rubbish.

Just to bring the Backbrain’s last post about the cast of the upcoming Avengers movie more into line with the main focus of this site, Kaiju Search-Robot Avery points out that there has been ongoing discussion regarding the possibility that the Leviathan will feature in the film. For those who don’t know, Leviathan is a mythical sea creature that appears in the Bible, emblematic of awesome strength and a humbler of the Proud. Here’s part of the description of Leviathan from the Book of Job (Job 41:1-41:34):

When he rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before his thrashing.
The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.
Iron he treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood.
Arrows do not make him flee, slingstones are like chaff to him.
A club seems to him but a piece of straw, he laughs at the rattling of the lance.
His undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing-sledge.
He makes the depths churn like a boiling cauldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.
Behind him he leaves a glistening wake; one would think the deep had white hair.
Nothing on earth is his equal— a creature without fear.
He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud.

In later mythological literature he was a demon and along with Behemoth a participant in the Last Days.

Below is an evocative picture — not a traditional image of the sea-monster but a nicely awesome one nevertheless. I would like to credit it, but I found it via Google on sites that hadn’t given due recognition to the artist. Click on it to get the full effect.

In the Marvel mythos, there have been several Leviathans, including a covert organisation of bad guys, a huge monster that was “the enemy of Thor” (possibly Jörmungandr or the Midgard Serpent) and an alien woman named Marrina, who in one storyline turned into a huge sea-monster and attacked Atlantis:

This Atlantis reference is relevant as much online geek discussion speculating on Joss Whedon’s Avengers sees the possibility of Leviathan being in the movie as indication that Namor, Sub-Mariner and Prince of Atlantis, will be appearing in the film. Who knows? If you want to explore the evidence, check out this article on Comicbookmovie.com. Personally, I’m happy to be surprised.

• Written by Robert Hood. Link via Avery Guerra. Marrina/Leviathan image from the Marvel Database.