THOR 2 Coming July 26th 2013 - Kenneth Branagh Won't Direct

Updated: Deadline have just broke the news that Don Payne has been chosen to write Thor 2. He wrote Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, had a credit on the first Thor and is the co-executive producer on The Simpsons. From the outside looking in it feels like they have hired a guy who can even further dumb down the character, make him more light and fluffy with more jokes. Great, huh? ORIGINAL ARTICLE FOLLOWS Marvel have announced that Thor 2 is coming July 26th 2013, just one day after what will be my 27th birthday (yikes!) but my present has come early with the knowledge that Kenneth Branagh won't be directing the sequel. He will however stick around producing but hopefully it'll be little more than a cursory credit. Chris Hemsworth will once again be throwing his hammer around and saying dumb things as Thor, which by then will be his third big screen appearance as the God of Thunder after next May's The Avengers. I imagine Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Kat Dennings and Stellan Skarsgård will all have multi-contracts with Marvel and will return, plus roles for other Avengers members likely. For me, the majority of the weaknesses with the original Thor all land on the shoulders of Branagh who has only ever shown a talent for high camp and numerous failed attempts at grandeur with wafer-thin soap opera style dramas. I very much admire Branagh as an actor but I can't get away with his behind-the-camera work - a CV of diet Shakespearen-esque morality plays that for all their attempts at reaching something more emotive, always feel false to me. Branagh's Thor was not the epic it could have been under the direction of someone elses hands. The character is totally unique in Marvel's canon that you really can go anywhere with him, he is a hero who can be used as deep as your imagination goes and let's hope Marvel manage to attract a director who can realise his unparalleled potential. Don't set the movie on Earth€ in fact forget Earth even exists. There would be no better present for myself in July 2013 than an Asgardian tale told with grandeur, heart and a real sense of danger. Of course they won't do that. Thor made $430 million worldwide, it's one of the bigger hits of the year and Marvel will likely give us more of the same. I could live with that I guess... but please don't hire the likes of Louis Leterrier or Jonathan Liebesman or MCG or Len Wiseman. Think€ Joss Whedon, Edgar Wright or hell give Matthew Vaughn and Mark Protosevich their opportunity to finally make the Thor movie they wanted to make years ago.