Why can’t we do Thor?

“If they give the show a chance, it will become very clear to them that it wasn’t the Marvel production that we had our eye on.

This is the seemingly existential question that hounds the upcoming primetime show Victor Magtanggol. Long before its scheduled premiere tonight at the coveted early night primetime spot of GMA-7, the show has been the subject of doubts and questions over its premise.

Alden Richards returns to primetime in the titular role, sans perennial onscreen partner Maine Mendoza. The fact that he is going solo is another fodder for tattlemouths, but his upcoming show has in itself sent tongues wagging beyond the already-volatile camp of the AlDub fandom.

Naysayers repeatedly claim the show as a rip-off of Marvel’s Thor franchise. From the costumes, the powers and the Mjolnir (hammer) that Victor Magtanggol is seen wielding in teasers and trailers, they have already judged the show as a copycat.

Show director Dominic Zapata posed this question to his doubters. “You know what? When Marvel did Thor, did Filipinos say anything? They only borrowed it from Norse mythology. Noong tayo ang humiram, bakit ganoon ang reaction [When it was our turn to borrow this idea, why have there been reactions such as these]?” asked the director in an interview with the Daily Tribune during last week’s presscon.

He called on the people to take a closer look at the teaser and the snippets of the events that unfold. The clip sees the Norse gods fighting each other in what fans of the mythology would clearly recognize as the events that lead to Ragnarok, an event that will kill almost all of the major gods including Thor.

“It’s crystal clear. We never made a Thor. We were going to do a Norse mythology. If they give the show a chance, it will become very clear to them that it wasn’t the Marvel production that we had our eye on. We had our eye on the Norse mythology and we feel that it is a very rich culture. It is a nice story to tell, and it is a nice takeoff point from where our hero was going to come,” Zapata explained.

Victor Magtanggol is the typical Filipino TV hero who possesses that kind streak – helpful, responsible and family-oriented. He sets off to another country in the hopes of finding his mother (Coney Reyes). While working in a museum, he meets the curator Magnus (Miguel Faustman), who turns out to be Magni, one of the surviving sons of Thor (Conan Stevens). Before death claims Magni, in addition to the threat of Loki (John Estrada) and his brother Modi (Pancho Magno), he is able to give Victor a magical compass that would lead the latter to a mystical mountain where he will find the iron gauntlet that would let him wield Thor’s Mjolnir. Once he wields it, he becomes known as Hammerman and fights with mystical creatures that wreak havoc on earth, with the constant threat of Loki and Modi on the side. But he will have an unlikely ally in the person of Thor’s wife Sif (Andrea Torres).

When asked why they decided to pursue Norse mythology when the Philippines has a rich literature, specifically folklore and myths of gods and goddesses, Zapata likened it to taking a plunge into the unexplored.

“We are a melting pot of different cultures. That’s how we are. Norse mythology is something that we haven’t really explored yet. We always look at Greek and Roman mythologies. What I like about Norse, it’s different. Greek and Roman myths are similar. The Norse culture is very different. They’re a warrior [culture]. Their mindset and views on relationships are also different,” he expounded.

He shared his excitement about the upcoming show especially the visuals that were used. Many of the shots were taken with a 4K camera, and some of the sequences were executed with motion capture technology. He beamed that every visual effects rendered on the show were done by the network’s in-house post production team.

It is hoped that the show will run for more than its intended 16 weeks with as ambitious and expensive project as Victor Magtanggol.

“Many of the shots were taken with a 4K camera, and some of the sequences were executed with motion capture technology.

“Say what you want after you’ve seen this show. But just for the sake of bashing it and you haven’t even seen the product, I will kind of take it personally because you’re taking away jobs from people who are not only trying to earn a living, but trying their darndest working 27, 29 days to come up with a quality work for free!” said Zapata.

The cast also includes Al Tantay as Tomas Magtanggol, father to Victor and his siblings; Chynna Ortaleza as Lynette Magtanggol-Domingo, the older sister of Victor; Dion Ignacio as Perci Domingo, the husband of Lynette; Lindsay De Vera as Anne Magtanggol, the younger sister of Victor; Reese Tuazon as Honeylyn, Anne’s best friend; Yuan Francisco as Meloy Domingo, the sole child of Lynette and Perci and the first one to know the secret identity of his uncle Victor; Eric Quizon as Hector Regalado, the ambitious and hungry-for-power politician; Freddie Webb as Renato Regalado, the father of Hector; Maritoni Fernandez as Alice Regalado, the second wife of Hector; Kristoffer Martin as Lance Espiritu, the stepson of Hector; and Janine Gutierrez as Gwen Regalado, Hector’s daughter who becomes a field reporter covering news about Hammerman.

The creative team of the TV series is composed of headwriter Denoy Punio with writers Glaiza Ramirez, Ken De Leon, brainstormers Marlon Miguel, Erwin Bravo and concept creator Jules Katanyag. Leading the team are creative director Roy Iglesias, creative consultants Suzette Doctolero and Dode Cruz.

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