Before the Marvel Cinematic established itself as an unrelenting blockbuster empire, it was an ambitious experiment. After the success of Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Iron Man 2, the series had to break out and prove it wasn’t a fluke by introducing a tangentially related Avenger never before seen on the big screen. The result was Thor, a movie focused on the Norse-inspired Asgardian starring the then-obscure Australian actor Chris Hemsworth.
To give this risky choice some credibility, Thor needed a high-profile director. Kenneth Branagh, director of Shakespeare adaptations like Much Ado About Nothing and Henry V, lent his talents to the movie, in an attempt to reframe the nascent MCU as a sandbox for serious directors. Now, 14 years later, another iconic director might bring some credibility back to the MCU, and Thor’s involved once again.
