In a recent interview with Uproxx, ‘Thor: The Dark World’ director Alan Taylor had a lot to say about his time working in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which unfortunately for him, was not the most ideal filmmaking experience. In his words:
“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.”
To be fair, Marvel has a brand to uphold, and has to ensure that every movie fits into the established continuity and maintains the quality of the previous entry. Perhaps the friction between Taylor and the studio explains why ‘Thor: The Dark World’ is not one of the more stellar entries into the franchise, but it could also point to the fact that it takes a unique filmmaker to be able to work within the Marvel box and make a truly successful film, but that does not make it impossible. For example, the Russo brothers and Joss Whedon both found ways to work with Marvel to make stellar movies.
As for the next entry in the ‘Thor’ series, titled ‘Thor: Ragnarok,’ it seems pretty clear that Taylor will not be invited back to play in the MCU, though Marvel president Kevin Feige, in a recent statement while promoting ‘Ant-Man,’ does not seem quite as sure. He said:
“Probably towards the end of the summer we would announce a filmmaker and a writer [for Ragnarok]. May be the same person, I don’t know, may be two different people.”
What are your thoughts on Taylor’s comments? Is he an embittered director seeking to blame the studio for the failures of his film? Or is he merely commenting on the studio pressures of having to work in the Marvel system? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
