7. Guillermo Del Toro Came Very Close To Directing Thor
Guillermo del Toro is a filmmaker that always seems to have dozens of projects on his plate across all forms of media, and it comes as little surprise when many of them fail to come to fruition. As well as having the plug pulled on At the Mountains of Madness and dropping out of The Hobbit after spending over a year on pre-production, the Mexican director also seriously considered directing Thor when the project was still in the development stage. After Matthew Vaughn dropped out of the director's chair, Marvel were on the lookout for a replacement to tackle the God of Thunder's big-screen debut and approached del Toro, with the director confirming that he was offered the project following Vaughn's departure in early 2008, stating in an interview;
'I came very close to doing Thor because I really wanted to bring the Norse mythology Its something Im very attracted to. Create the giants and create the more fantastical version of that. The way I imagined it was like really, really dingy Valhalla, Vikings and mud.'
In the end, del Toro decided against making Thor in favor of signing on to The Hobbit instead, with Kenneth Branagh being handed the reins to kick-start Marvel's newest franchise. While Branagh delivered a solid Shakespearean-tinged fantasy, the prospect of a Guillermo del Toro-directed Thor is a tantalizing one. Given his penchant for practical effects and creature design the movie had the potential to be a visually jaw-dropping and gritty take on the character, even though its highly unlikely that his singular vision would have worked within the confines of the Marvel system.