By Good news for anyone who shared my view that this summer’s Thor was kind of a mess, due in no small part to director Kenneth Branagh’s love of pointlessly skewed camera angles. Branagh won’t be returning for the sequel, which has already been set for release on July 26 2013 (less than two years to go – time to start getting excited, people!), and of the shortlist of directors Marvel has drawn up to replace him, relative unknown Brian Kirk is said to be the current first choice.
Although the Irishman doesn’t have Branagh’s extensive knowledge of Shakespeare, having only worked in television to date, he is experienced in the fantasy genre courtesy of his work on Game Of Thrones. He has also covered more ‘realist’ material, including the critically acclaimed Boardwalk Empire, Luther and Dexter, so if chosen, he should be able to balance the different dramatic needs of both the Asgard and Earth-based parts of the story. Other directors supposedly on the shortlist include James McTeigue (V For Vendetta), Noam Murro (the 300 sequel, Battle For Artemesia), Drew Goddard (Cabin In The Woods) and Breck Eisner (The Crazies).
[via Variety]