The Hollywood Reporter has a story stating that Marvel has plans for an animated Thor series to start airing shortly after the Thor movie arrives in theaters in 2010.

This comes as a surprise, since Thor was announced as being part of the animated Avengers series to debut in 2011. With Marvel owning the rights to the character, there is no reason he couldn’t appear in both. Perhaps at the end of the initial 26 episodes, Thor will join the Avengers. An nified animated universe would be an awesome and not out of the question, since fans like what Marvel is doing with their film universe.

Here’s the description of the series from the Hollywood Reporter story:

The animated series will follow Thor, the Norse god of thunder, as he defends his mythical home of Asgard against fantastical villains, fiendish hordes, winged creatures and angry giants. The show will take place in various worlds — from mountainous landscapes to places of icy mists and fiery voids — and will include many of the comic’s supporting cast, including Balder the Brave, the Warriors Three and Thor’s evil adopted brother, Loki.

Marvel president of animation Eric Rollman said the series is part of the company’s plan to follow each live-action movie with an animated series and "offer a continued awareness in the marketplace." It already is in production on cartoon series "The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes," which will be available for broadcast in 2011, in time for Marvel Studios’ releases of the live-action "The First Avenger: Captain America" and "The Avengers."

Hollywood Reporter