''Victor Magtanggol'' (international title: ''Heart of Courage'') is a 2018

Philippine television drama Philippine television drama, also known as ''teleserye'' is a form of melodramatic, serialized, televised fiction in the Philippines. ''Teleserye'' is derived from two Filipino words: "tele", short for "''telebisyón''" (television), and "''se ...

action fantasy series broadcast by

GMA Network GMA Network (an acronym of its legal name, Global Media Arts and commonly known as GMA) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine commercial broadcast network, serving as the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network (company), ...

. The series is inspired by

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

. Directed by Dominic Zapata, it stars

Alden Richards Richard Reyes Faulkerson Jr. (born January 2, 1992), known professionally as Alden Richards, is a Filipino actor, entrepreneur television personality, and singer. Known for his leading man roles in romantic and historical drama in television an ...

in the title role. It premiered on July 30, 2018, on the network's Telebabad line up. The series concluded on November 16, 2018, with a total of 80 episodes. The series is originally titled as ''Mitho''. It is streaming online on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Premise

Many gods, including

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

, will not survive the

Ragnarök In Norse mythology, (also Ragnarok; or ; ) is a foretold series of impending events, including a great battle in which numerous great Norse mythological figures will perish (including the Æsir, gods Odin, Thor, Týr, Freyr, Heimdall, a ...

. Before Thor's death, he orders his son Magni to hide his weapon, the hammer

Mjölnir Mjölnir ( , ; from Old Norse ''Mjǫllnir'' ) is the hammer of the thunder god Thor in Norse mythology, used both as a devastating weapon and as a divine instrument to provide blessings. The hammer is attested in numerous sources, including t ...

, until there is someone right to inherit it. Magni goes to the world of mortals to wait for the new taker of Mjölnir. There he meets Victor Magtanggol, the one who must eventually learn to use Mjölnir to protect the world and his loved ones from Móði, Thor's son and Magni's brother, who is upset for not inheriting Mjölnir, and

Loki Loki is a Æsir, god in Norse mythology. He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mythology), Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi (son of Lo ...

who plans to spread chaos in the mortal world.

Cast and characters

;Lead cast *

as Victor "Hammerman" Magtanggol ;Supporting cast *

Coney Reyes Constancia Angeline Reyes Nubla (born May 27, 1954), better known by her screen name Coney Reyes, is a Filipino film and television actress, comedian, television host and producer. Reyes made her acting debut in the 1974 film ''Return of the ...

as Vivienne Delos Santos-Magtanggol * Eric Quizon as Hector Regalado * Andrea Torres as

Sif In Norse mythology, Sif is a golden-haired goddess associated with earth. Sif is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''Prose Edda'', written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturl ...

/ Ms. S * Janine Gutierrez as Gwen Regalado-Corona *

Pancho Magno Pancho Angelo Acuña Magno (born October 2, 1986) is a Filipino actor.Glorioso, Bot (December 15, 2014)"Pancho Magno reveals more about himself" ''philstar.com''. He is the oldest son of Redgie Magno, VP for Drama Productions, GMA Network ...

as Móði *

John Estrada John Anthony Siason Estrada (born June 13, 1973), known professionally as John Estrada, is a Filipino actor, model and filmmaker who has starred in a number of roles as a leading man and antagonist. He was a contract actor with ABS-CBN from ...

/ Mikolai * Al Tantay as Tomas Magtanggol * Freddie Webb as Renato Regalado * Chynna Ortaleza as Lynette Magtanggol-Domingo / Hel * Maritoni Fernandez as Alice Espiritu-Regalado * Dion Ignacio as Percival "Perci" Domingo * Kristoffer Martin as Lance E. Regalado /

Fenrir Fenrir (Old Norse 'fen-dweller')Orchard (1997:42). or Fenrisúlfr (Old Norse "Fenrir's wolf", often translated "Fenris-wolf"),Simek (2007:81). also referred to as Hróðvitnir (Old Norse "fame-wolf")Simek (2007:160). and Vánagandr (Old Nors ...

* Miguel Faustmann as Magni / Magnus * Yuan Francisco as Carmelo "Meloy" M. Domingo * Lindsay De Vera as Anne Magtanggol * Reese Tuazon as Honelyn De Mesa * Benjie Paras as Erwin Bravo * Lucho Ayala as Timothy Ferdinand "Tim" Corona * Jon Gutierrez as Mario Magtanggol * Flow-G as Luigi Magtanggol ;Recurring cast * Noel Urbano as the voice of

Níðhöggr (, , , "Malice Biter/Striker"?), often anglicized Nidhogg, is a Germanic dragon in Norse mythology who is said to gnaw at the roots of the world tree, Yggdrasil, and is likewise associated with the dead in Hel and Niflheim. Etymology Whi ...

and

Ratatoskr In Norse mythology, Ratatoskr (Old Norse, generally considered to mean "drill-tooth"Orchard (1997:129), Simek (2007:261), and Byock (2005:173). or "bore-tooth"Lindow (2001:259).) is a squirrel who runs up and down the world tree Yggdrasil to carr ...

;Guest cast *

Conan Stevens Mark "Conan" Stevens is an Australian actor and former professional wrestler as 7 FT Thunder.Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

* Matthias Rhoads as James * Diana Zubiri as Freya * Fabio Ide as Baldur * Natalia Moon as

Frigg Frigg (; Old Norse: ) is a goddess, one of the Æsir, in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about her, she is associated with marriage, prophecy, clairvoyance and motherhood, and dwells in the wetl ...

* Sheena Halili as Janice *Luri Vincent Nalus as Dennis * Michelle Dee as Gwen's boss * Chariz Solomon as Cynthia *

John Feir John Feir (born December 26, 1968) is a Filipino comedian and actor. He is notable for his appearances in television comedy programs such as '' Nuts Entertainment'' (2003) and '' Pepito Manaloto'' (2010–present). He also works as an exclusive ...

as a construction worker * Pekto as Ringgo * Rob Moya as a construction worker * Kevin Santos as James * Carlos Agassi as Arvin * Sophie Albert as

Edda "Edda" (; Old Norse ''Edda'', plural ''Eddur'') is an Old Norse term that has been applied by modern scholars to the collective of two Medieval Icelandic literary works: what is now known as the ''Prose Edda'' and an older collection of poems ( ...

* Pen Medina as Alcala * Glaiza de Castro as Ena * Kylie Padilla as Ami *

Gabbi Garcia Gabriella Louise Ortega Lopez (born December 2, 1998), known professionally as Gabbi Garcia (), is a Filipino actress, global endorser, singer, host and vlogger. She is currently an exclusive talent of GMA Network, Sparkle GMA Artist Center, ...

as Lena * Sanya Lopez as Aya * Janice Hung as

Gunnlöð Gunnlǫð (Old Norse: ; also Gunnlöd) is a jötunn in Norse mythology. She is the daughter of Suttungr, for whom she guards the mead of poetry. Saturn's moon Gunnlod (moon), Gunnlod is named after her. Name The Old Norse name has been trans ...

* Ian Ignacio as Þrymr * Tonio Quiazon as a gun smuggler *

Dave Bornea Justin Merck de Jesus (born February 23, 1995), known professionally as Dave Bornea, is a Filipino YouTube personality, actor, model and dancer best known for his viral video Dubsmash "Twerk It Like Miley". Biography He was born in Visayas an ...

as Iking * Julius Miguel as teenage Meloy

Development

tasked writers to come up for a television series based on

. Jules Katanyag, concept creator of ''Victor Magtanggol'' described what he and other writers came up as "best reflects the Filipino condition," which is that of uncertainty. The show is set in present-day Philippines, after several Norse deities including Thor died following Ragnarök, a series of catastrophic events in the

Norse Mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

. Part of the series was also shot outside of the Philippines. The

theme song Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

"Superhero Mo," is a collaboration between Alden Richards and the hip-hop group Ex Battalion. The latter composed the song. A

lyric video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to promote the sale of m ...

for the song was released by GMA Music on May 28, 2018.

Production

Principal photography commenced in June 2018.

Ratings

According to

AGB Nielsen Philippines AGB Nielsen Media Research Philippines, commonly called AGB Nielsen, or AGB Nielsen Philippines, under The Nielsen Company is a global leader in audience measurement, market research firms, and data analytics, with a focus on media in the Phi ...

' Nationwide Urban Television Audience Measurement People in television homes, the pilot episode earned a 12.4% rating. The final episode scored an 11.1% rating.

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 8760072 2018 Philippine television series debuts 2018 Philippine television series endings Filipino-language television shows GMA Network drama series Philippine action television series Philippine fantasy television series Superhero television shows Television series based on Norse mythology Television series by GMA Entertainment Group Television series directed by Dominic Zapata Television shows set in the Philippines