THOR Director Kenneth Branagh Opens Up About Why He Didn't Return to Make THOR: THE DARK WORLD
The directors of the early MCU films had a lot riding on how they made their films, as the heads of the company clearly had a huge vision for how the future would play out. But that could only happen if the initial films garnered enough interest, which obviously, they did. One of those early directors was Kenneth Branagh, who made Thor, which was well-received and a great jumping off point for the Asgardian characters.
It seems that with Branagh having such a successful film, it would be a no brainer that he return for the sequel. But when Thor: The Dark World came around, Branagh passed up the director’s chair, and the studio ended up getting Alan Taylor to direct.
In a recent interview with Collider, Branagh talked about making Thor, and spoke out about why he passed up the sequel:
“The way things work, there was a version of events where… sometimes with these stories I like to plan them as trilogies, but it’s much harder in this world for that to work out because the stakes are so high you’ve gotta really see how the first one does. When the first one was finished, essentially it had been three fantastic years of my life, but I needed to recharge on something else. I was too close to the glass on that one, so I would definitely never say never again because it changed my life and changed my career and I’m profoundly grateful for it. I wasn’t ready to go straight into another one, but I like the idea of… I’d love to be planning something that was a three-parter in movie terms. That hasn’t come along yet but maybe it will.”
That’s understandable. Three years is a long time to spend on one movie, and jumping right into the sequel just wasn’t in Branagh’s plans. It’s too bad that he couldn’t finish his vision, but hopefully he does get that three-part movie deal he is looking for.
What would you like to see Branagh take on in the future?