When Kenneth Branagh
directed Thor and brought the most
electrifying Avenger to the big screen, he changed the face of the modern
Blockbuster. Not because Thor was that
great or groundbreaking—it was pretty solid!—but because doing so provided
the connective tissue that allowed the Marvel Cinematic Universe to begin
dominating Hollywood. It proved that the mishmash of aesthetics that make up
the shared Marvel universe could work on film. That burden was, as it turns
out, a lot of pressure.
Talking with Collider
about a variety of things, including his work on Artemis
Fowl, Branagh also shared some new insight into his experience directing
Thor and just how overwhelming that
experience really was.
“There was no
question that tonally Thor was critical
after the massive success of the brilliant Iron
Man from Mr. Favreau and Robert [Downey Jr.], and then slightly less
successful in their terms The Incredible Hulk.
Thor became critical to being the sort of tonal bridge—featuring literally a
rainbow bridge as well—between as it were the Earthbound and space-bound and
fantasy-bound parts of the Marvel universe,” Branagh said. “So there
was a kind of connective matrix that Thor, Asgard, the Nine Realms and
everything that it involved could provide inside that large Marvel Cinematic
Universe that was enormously important that couldn’t be done by the brilliant Captain America, because it wasn’t the same
material. This was the one that said, ‘Is there a fantastical future?’”
https://gizmodo.com/natalie-portman-will-be-taking-up-the-hammer-as-the-mig-1836568483
That meant that all
the decisions Branagh made as a director on that film were filled with a
critical weight. Specifically, Branagh remembers the agonizing that went into
casting the lead roles. At the time, Branagh explained, it was already
established that the drama between Thor and Loki would be the lynchpin of the
upcoming Avengers movie. So those two
characters had to be right, or everyone involved would be out a lot of time and
money.
Branagh explained:
I’ll never forget
the moment that we cast those two boys [Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston]. It
was like a sort of meditation or a sort of incantation… Kevin Feige must’ve
walked around this long oval table a hundred times on that Saturday morning as
I kept sort of saying, ‘I think we should call them.’ ‘Are you sure?’ ‘Yeah, I
think we should call them.’… and I knew how profoundly serious that decision
was. Kevin said, ‘We’ll never make a more important decision in this company
than what’s happening in this room, Saturday morning at 10:30, when you pick up
the phone to Chris Hemsworth and then Tom Hiddleston. It’s either going to work
or it’s not. Good luck.’
That stress was
enough for Branagh to decide against returning for the next Thor movie, which is understandable, though
he’s seemingly not entirely opposed to returning to the MCU, or at least that
style of filmmaking, if the opportunity justifies itself.
“The way things
work, there was a version of events where… sometimes with these stories I like
to plan them as trilogies, but it’s much harder in this world for that to work
out because the stakes are so high you’ve gotta really see how the first one
does. When the first one was finished, essentially it had been three fantastic
years of my life, but I needed to recharge on something else,” he said.
“I was too close to the glass on that one, so I would definitely never say
never again because it changed my life and changed my career and I’m profoundly
grateful for it. I wasn’t ready to go straight into another one, but I like the
idea of… I’d love to be planning something that was a three-parter in movie
terms. That hasn’t come along yet but maybe it will.”
Branagh certainly
brings a sharp, Shakespearean eye to crafting films. If the MCU ever needs that
sort of perspective again, Disney knows who to call.
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