Released in May 2011, Thor was the first Marvel Studios movie that didn't revolve around Iron Man. It was considered a huge risk at the time, especially with relative unknowns Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston playing the God of Thunder and his villainous brother, Loki.
Filmmaker Kenneth Branagh was no stranger to Shakespearean fare, but had little in the way of blockbuster experience. Despite that, the movie received positive reviews from critics and, most importantly, wowed fans.
At the box office, Thor grossed $449.3 million, which, adjusted for inflation, is $650 million by today's standards. Despite that, Branagh didn't return for the sequel, handing the reins to Alan Taylor, who delivered a disappointing follow-up with 2013's Thor: The Dark World.
Talking to Business Insider, Branagh was asked why he didn't return to the MCU for another Thor movie. "I definitely was ready for another, for sure, but not right then," he explained. "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."
"They were disappointed; they understood, but they were disappointed," Branagh continued. "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.'"
Praising the Thor sequels as "amazing films," Branagh said he watched them "with a mix of tremendous pride and amazement at the many ways such stories can."
However, he's now open to returning, despite being unsure whether his vision for the God of Thunder would fit into Marvel Studios' current plans.
"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,'" he teased. "I would love to see Chris Hemsworth and the others have their own individual final story that takes Thor into a glorious twilight."
"All I know is there's something beautiful to be had out of arriving at a conclusion for that arc of those stories with those characters and those actors."
There were lots of casting rumours surrounding Thor, including the possibility that WWE Superstar Triple H might play the Asgardian. A far more plausible report suggested that James Bond star Daniel Craig might be in the running to portray the Thunder God. Now, that's been debunked by Branagh.
"Not to my knowledge. I think we can officially debunk that. He's an extraordinary actor, but at least under my watch, I didn't see that happening. To be honest, we needed someone who wasn't bringing previous baggage, even if the baggage was brilliance and familiar roles. It felt as though we needed someone with a clean slate who was bringing a physical heft and an innocence."
"I remember when we cast Chris and Tom; it was a Saturday morning at Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach. Kevin Feige walked around the central table in this little room that he and I were in. He must have gone around it 10,000 steps, muttering sometimes to me, and sometimes as if I wasn't there; he was sort of hallucinating, saying, 'This is the most important decision we will ever make.'"
"It was clear it had taken a long time to get to this moment, and now we really needed to be certain. It was like talking someone off the ledge. My job that morning was just to say, 'No, it's Chris, and it's Tom,'" Branagh concluded.
The full interview is well worth reading, as the Thor director talks more about making the movie, Stan Lee's cameo, the unique experience of working with Anthony Hopkins, and how he pitched the project to Marvel Studios.