Kenneth Branagh To Direct Thor?

 

The internets are all abuzz this morning over a report from Variety that Marvel is in talks with Kenneth Branagh to direct the Thor movie.  Branagh, known primarily as an amazing Shakespearean actor, has directed a number of films as well, including Henry V, Hamlet, and a really crappy version of Frankenstein.

 

I'm not sure yet how I feel about this news.  I'll have to mull this over a bit and get back to you.  Admittedly, Branagh isn't known for directing big budget action films, so I can't help but wonder why Marvel would go to him.  However, Jon Favreau wasn't known for doing big budget action films either, and look how Iron Man Turned out.

 

So maybe Marvel might be on to something.  Previous rumors have stated that the Thor film might be a middle ages period piece where we see our Hero doing battle on large fields of warfare.  If that's the case, maybe Branagh and all of his Shakespeare experience might come in handy.  Marvel seems to be setting a good track record with finding unusual directors to make great versions of their films (who would have thought Sam Raimi could have made the first Spider-man film), so I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt on this one. 

 

If Branagh does indeed sign on to direct the film, I'll be intruiged to see what he does with it.