Thor director Kenneth Branagh is ready to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to tell the God of Thunder’s final story.
In a new interview with Business Insider, Branagh explained why he didn’t return to direct the 2013 sequel Thor: The Dark World. He also made his pitch for Chris Hemsworth‘s final Thor movie (because, c’mon, it can’t end with Love and Thunder).
On not returning for The Dark World:
“I definitely was ready for another, for sure, but not right then. Marvel shoots are intense. Marvel postproduction is more intense — wildly exciting but super intense. I definitely needed to smell the roses. Kevin Feige was very understanding, and so was the cast. I needed a break.”
“I was thrilled to be asked. They were disappointed; they understood, but they were disappointed. They wanted to go straight away with a sequel, and why shouldn’t they? And I said to Kevin at that time, ‘I don’t have it in me.'”
On wanting to return to bookend Hemsworth’s journey as Thor with a Logan-style movie:
“Part of me would love to finish my relationship with that character. I’d always wanted to do more and indeed had a couple of ideas, more in the territory of James Mangold’s brilliant Logan. I would love to see Chris Hemsworth and the others have their own individual final story that takes Thor into a glorious twilight.”
Branagh helmed the first Thor movie for Marvel Studios, which was released in 2011 to critical and commercial success. Alan Taylor replaced him in the director’s chair for Thor: The Dark World. Taika Waititi was then brought in to helm the next two sequels, 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok and 2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder.
Thor is currently set to appear in Avengers: Doomsday, which will mark Hemsworth’s tenth live-action appearance as the Asgardian superhero. While a fifth Thor film has been rumored (and teased by Marvel with that Hercules post-credits scene), Marvel Studios hasn’t officially announced such a project yet.
An R-rated Thor movie that pulled inspiration from Logan and possibly the King Thor comic book miniseries from 2019 would be pretty dope and a perfect way to cap off Hemsworth’s time in the MCU. Don’t you think?