MARVEL Studios apparently has its eye on Hollywood hunk Brad Pitt for the lead role in its big-screen comicbook movie of hammer-wielding hero Thor.

Comicbook fans online are divided over whether the 44-year-old star is too old or too famous for the role of the Norse thunder god who is sent to earth to learn humility.

Movie site Latino Review says Brad Pitt is the name Marvel is considering for the lead.

But it says no offer has yet been made to Pitt. The site said Brad was a 'solid choice' for the role and I agree it would bring wider appeal, especially as Pitt proved he can do historical/mythic hero when he starred in Troy.

Last year it was speculated that actor Kevin McKidd and pro-wrestler turned actor Paul Levesque (right, known in the wrestling world as HHH or Triple H) were being considered for the Thor role.

Levesque, aged 38, is the current WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) champion; it's his seventh reign as champion.

Triple H certainly has the physique and presence for the part, as we can see comparing his own image above and the comicbook image of Thor below it. Earlier this month, suggestions that either he or McKidd would take the role were still being made in the wrestling world.

The big question is whether a wrestler has the acting ability to carry off the Thor role. Wrestlers have had roles in movies many times before, as this list shows; a further list is here and another is here. Among the roles, The Rock was in Scorpion King, Triple H was in Blade Trinity, Tyler Mane was Sabretooth in the first X-Men movie, Kevin Nash was in The Punisher. But whether any wrestler could deliver more than brute physicality is open to debate - the Thor role requires depth and some convincing Old English dialogue.

Matthew Vaughn, the director of Layer Cake and Stardust who was once attached to the Thor movie, had revealed he didn't want a big name for the lead role, saying: "The main role is going to be played by someone totally unknown. It can't be a star." Vaughn left the project but Marvel confirmed its commitment to the Thor movie when it announced its feature film schedule which includes a Thor film in 2010.

Marvel's obviously now reconsidering the options if it does want a star in the lead role to give the movie more clout and box office draw. With Marvel casting Robert Downey Jnr as Iron Man and Edward Norton as Hulk, it's clear it likes big names as its leads.

Brad Pitt would provide such star power. He's a clear A-lister - his former marriage to actress Jennifer Aniston and current relationship with Angelina Jolie have been widely covered in the world media. He is the father of four children with Jolie, one biological, all of whom have also received media coverage. Since his romantic link with Jolie, he has become increasingly involved in social issues, domestically and internationally.

His acting roles include such films such as Twelve Monkeys (for which he was Oscar-nominated), Fight Club, Ocean's 11 and The Assassination of Jesse James - and he had the physique and presence when he played Achilles in the 2004 historical epic Troy (pictured top and left). The main question is his age.

And there's also his availability. Currently filming mystical movie Tree of Life, he's also going to star in Atlas Shrugged, The Fighter, Dallas Buyer's Club, Chad Schmidt and Dirty Tricks. Whether there's room for Thor among all those film projects is also debatable.