Leading up toMarvel’s The Avengers, the question on everyone’s minds was whether this interconnected universe of Marvel movies would work. But afterThe Avengers, which was a monumental success, the studio then had to turn to continuing to build out its individual franchises. First up wasIron Man 3, a fairly safe bet given the success of the first two movies. But second out of the gate was aThorsequel, following an initial film that had a few issues and a character that was still somewhat ill-defined. Indeed, as evidenced by the creatively difficult production ofThor: The Dark Worldand basically everyone involved admitting the movie wasn’t great, creating a successful and satisfyingThor 2was far easier said than done.
After securingChris Hemsworthto star andKenneth Branaghto direct the firstThor, Marvel was bullish enough on the project to begin preliminary work on a follow-up. Less than two months afterThorhit theaters in 2011, as Hemsworth was in production on theJoss Whedon-helmedThe Avengers, Marvel Studios not only officially announcedThor 2but also set an ambitious July 2013 release date, giving all involved just two years to create a satisfying follow-up from scratch.
Given the time crunch,Branagh declined to return as director:
“It was a long time [making the first film] and they were way too quick for me to get straight back into another. [But] it was a pleasurable experience and a film I’m very proud of.”
So Marvel got to hunting for a new director whileDon Payne, who co-wrote the firstThor, got to work crafting a screenplay for the sequel (though he would later be rewritten byChristopher Yost,Stephen McFeely, andChristopher Markus). As opposed to hiring established names like Branagh,Jon Favreau, andJoe Johnstonin Phase One, Marvel turned to less experienced filmmakers in its Phase Two films, opting to bet on fresh talents rather than pay larger fees for known quantities. As such, the first director eyed to helmThor 2(and there would ultimately be three in total…) wasBrian Kirk.
Kirk entered negotiations to directThor 2in August 2011, mere months afterThorhit theaters. At that time, Kirk was best known for directing three episodes ofGame of Thrones’ first season, as well as episodes of shows likeDexterandLuther, but his connection toThor 2would be short-lived. Kirk wound upnotsigning on to helmThor 2, and while Marvel considered other filmmakers likeDrew Goddard(The Cabin in the Woods),James McTeigue(Ninja Assassin), andNoam Murro(300: Rise of an Empire), in September 2011 they entered firm talks withPatty Jenkinsto take the helm.
Jenkins did indeed end up signing on to directThor 2, with Marvel impressed by her work on her Oscar-winning dramaMonster. Co-starNatalie Portmanwas an advocate for Jenkins’ hiring, and the enormity of enlisting a female filmmaker to tackle a blockbuster superhero film was not lost on folks at the time.
RELATED:Patty Jenkins Reveals Why She Left ‘Thor: The Dark World’
So Jenkins signed on, Portman was confirmed to co-star, and Marvel pushed the release date back to November 2013. And then Jenkins left the movie. In December 2011, Jenkins exited the project over “creative differences,” which she subsequently chalked up to her and Marvelwanting to make different movies:
“I don’t think I could have made a good movie out of Thor 2 because I wasn’t the right director. And I don’t think I would have been in the running for Wonder Woman as a result. And that’s one of the reasons why I’m glad I didn’t do it because I could have made a great Thor if I could have done the story that I was wanting to do. But I don’t think I was the right person to make a greatThorout of the story they wanted to do.”
What story did Jenkins want to do? Shepitched Marvelon aRomeo and Juliet-inspired story revolving around Thor and Jane:
“I pitched them that I wanted to do Romeo and Juliet. I wanted Jane to be stuck on Earth and Thor to be stuck where he is. And Thor to be forbidden to come and save Jane because Earth doesn’t matter. And then by coming to save her … they end up discovering that Malekith is hiding the dark energy inside of Earth because he knows that Odin doesn’t care about Earth, and so he’s using Odin’s disinterest in Earth to trick him. And so it was like, I wanted it to be a grand [movie] based onRomeo and Juliet… a war between the gods and the earthlings, and Thor saves the day and ends up saving Earth.”
Ultimately, that wasn’t in line with the story Marvel wanted to tell, and indeed as Jenkins has stated, she could have moved forward with their version of the film, but if it ended up badly she’d take the blame. And unfortunately, given how few female filmmakers get the chance to direct massive blockbuster movies, she had to consider the harm that kind of a bust would do not just to her career, but to the prospect of other female filmmakers getting hired to direct superhero movies.
So Marvel moved on, as did Jenkins who eventually directed her own superhero movie in the form of 2017’s excellentWonder Woman. Marvel clearly wantedThor 2to be quite gritty, and they went back to theGame of Throneswell, considering directorsAlan TaylorandDaniel Minahanto take over the project.
Taylor—whose TV credits are extensive and includedMad MenandThe Sopranosin addition toGame of Thrones—was officially hired to directThor 2in late December, mere weeks after Jenkins departed.
Tom Hiddlestonwas also confirmed to return, but for the villain role this time around Marvel went with the character of Malekith, and first offered the part toMads Mikkelsen. While he engaged in preliminary talks, Mikkelsen ultimately opted to star in the NBC seriesHannibalinstead (a wise decision), but he would eventually get to play an MCU villain inDoctor Strange. For the role of Malekith,Christopher Ecclestonwas eventually cast, although much of the character’s backstory was eventually cut out of the finished film and Eccleston subsequently compared his experience shooting the film toputting a gun in his mouth.
Another interesting piece of casting was the role of Fandral.Joshua Dallaswas unable to reprise his role from the first movie, so Marvel recast the part with futureShazam!starZachary Levi, who was initially cast as Fandral in the first movie before his schedule on the TV seriesChuckforced him to drop out.
Filming onThor: The Dark Worldbegan in September 2012 in England and continued through December, and by most accounts the shoot went well. It was in post-production that the film underwent significant changes, which included reshoots thatadded more scenes with Loki, as Taylor explained:
“We’re doing full scenes, scenes that were not in the movie before. We’re adding scenes, creating scenes, writing scenes for the first time. The one [involving Loki] was a fun connective scene… We realized how well Loki was working in the movie, and we wanted to do more with him. So it was that kind of thing, it was like, ‘Oh, we could do this, we could jam this in here’ because he’s such a wonderful guy to watch do his stuff.”
The reshoots evenenlisted Joss Whedon for help, who was feverishly trying to completeThe Avengersat the time:
“Joss came in to save our lives a couple of times,” laughs the director. “We had a major scene that was not working on the page at all in London, and he basically got airlifted in, like a SWAT team or something. He came down, rewrote the scene, and before he got back to his plane I sort of grabbed him and said, ‘And this scene and this scene?’ And he rewrote two other scenes that I thought had problems. Then finally we let go of him, he took off again, and we shot the scenes; and they were just much better and much lighter on their feet. Much more fun, much more surprising than what we had been trying to do. I can relate to guys who come out of the TV world, since that’s where I come from. And being able to land and work and solve a problem quickly… I really was grateful.”
Still, years later Taylor would admit that the finished version ofThor: The Dark Worlddidn’t match upwith the film hethoughthe was making:
“I’ve learned that you don’t make a $170 million movie with someone else’s money and not have to collaborate a lot. The Marvel experience was particularly wrenching because I was sort of given absolute freedom while we were shooting, and then in post it turned into a different movie. So, that is something I hope never to repeat and don’t wish upon anybody else.”
Thor: The Dark Worldopened in theaters on August 08, 2025 and surpassed the gross of the firstThorin just 19 days. Indeed, with a worldwide total of $644.6 million vs.Thor’s $449.3 million, the sequel was an unqualified success from a box office standpoint. The “AvengersEffect” was in full swing, as audiences were itching to see more of these characters on the big screen, and every subsequent Marvel movie enjoyed a financial windfall.
Critically, however,Thor: The Dark Worldreceived a fairly chilly reception, and even Hemsworth would later admit that the film wasn’t up to snuff:
“The first one is good, the second one is meh…What masculinity was, the classic archetype—it just all starts to feel very familiar. I was so aware that we were right on the edge.”
Indeed, it would take untilThor 3for the character to really find his footing, but at the time ofThor: The Dark World’s release the film was definitely not seen as anything disastrous. It was a somewhat forgettable yet mildly enjoyable bump in the road, but it would prove to be the final major misstep for Marvel Studios as the MCU was about to get a one-two-punch shakeup with its next two films, marking a radical departure in tone. Next week, we dig into the making ofCaptain America: The Winter Soldier.
If you missed my previous How the MCU Was Made articles, click the links below:
KEEP READING:How the MCU Was Made: ‘Iron Man 3’ and the Origin of That Mandarin Twist
