Patty Jenkins, who would have been the first woman to direct a AAA budget super hero film, recently left the production of Thor 2 over creative differences.
Since then, we’ve been hearing rumors that it perhaps wasn’t such an amiable break, with Jenkins being ousted by Marvel executives who began to get a bit nervous about her unique vision for the film – despite claiming to have hired her for that unique vision in the first place.
We’ve also learned that she may have been used as a sort of bargaining chip to keep Natalie Portman, who plays Thor’s love interest, Jane Foster, involved in the franchise.
Apparently, Portman is still infuriated by the loss of Jenkins from the project because her involvement was the reason Portman was willing to sign on for another film, when she was originally planning to be done with Thor.
It’s a surprise to me that they didn’t have Portman sign a multi-film contract right off the blocks, but I guess the romantic lead isn’t set in stone
And now The Hollywood Reporter confirms that Marvel has chosen Alan Taylor, one of the co-directors for the hit television fantasy series Game of Thrones, to helm the film. Yes, the studio has reportedly extended an offer to Taylor this week, and is just waiting for a response.
If a deal can be struck Taylor will join the ranks of Marvel Film Universe directors, which include Joss Whedon, Joe Johnston, Jon Favreau, and Kenneth Branagh. This certainly isn’t light company for a director who is still relatively early in his career. Clearly, the film will present quite a challenge, not the least of which is to tie his own take on Thor into the established Marvel Universe canon created by these other great names in the art.
Of course, Portman is now locked into the film, despite the loss of Jenkins from the project. Will her anger at this decision affect her performance? Will Taylor’s greatest challenge be getting a good performance out of a sullen Portman? I’d like to think that Portman is more professional than that, but if some of the Hollywood stories are true, she’s not the easiest actor to work with in the first place.
Thor 2 has no official synopsis yet, but from previous reports we know that it will take Thor off-earth to fight some battles around the nine worlds, and will deal heavily in the relationship between Thor and Odin, who will be played again by Chris Hemsworth and Anthony Hopkins respectively.
The film has no announced production or release dates, but I would expect production to begin in the late spring if there are no further delays.
