“It was a whole different adventure this time,” Natalie Portman told Empire during Disney's D23 Expo earlier today. “Because Jane is the fish out of water. I didn't want to make it like Bill And Ted, or like the Valley Girl dumped into Shakespeareland!” Besides filming in London, the Jane Foster actress admitted she had the most fun smacking Tom Hiddleston's Loki, as seen in the recent trailer. “It feels fantastic,” she laughed. “He was a great sport about it.”
For director Alan Taylor, he had the most fun bringing his "fatal magic" from HBO shows to the Marvel sequel, Thor: The Dark World. “I realized recently that I am the grim reaper,” Taylor laughed. “People hate me because I killed Ned Stark on Thrones. But I also killed Caesar in Rome, Wild Bill Hickock in Deadwood and Christopher in The Sopranos. I just get called in to murder people's favorite characters, so I'm surprised Thor survived this one. There are a few people who don't make it out alive here. There could be some surprises!”
Also glimpsed in the trailer & set pics last year is the major destruction done to London. “I think the idea of London was built into the DNA of the movie before I came along and I was happy it did,” Taylor said. “It's a great place to shoot and boasts good crews. There's also some backstory that makes sense in the movie with Stonehenge and some other things. And finally, a little thing called tax breaks, which is why London is blowing up a lot this summer! I picked Greenwich. And I'll tell you why: I knew our final act was going to be total chaotic battle and so I loved the idea of picking a really formal setting to stage chaos. There are no and angles in that place. We got to go into the Painted Hall and explode it...”
Marvel Studios’ “Thor: The Dark World” continues the big-screen adventures of Thor, the Mighty Avenger, as he battles to save Earth and all the Nine Realms from a shadowy enemy that predates the universe itself. In the aftermath of Marvel’s “Thor” and “Marvel’s The Avengers,” Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos…but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all. Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Christopher Eccleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano and Jaimie Alexander with Rene Russo & Anthony Hopkins as Odin, “Thor: The Dark World” is directed by Alan Taylor, produced by Kevin Feige, from a story by Don Payne and screenplay by Christopher Yost and Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely and is based on Marvel’s classic Super Hero Thor, who first appeared in the comic book “Journey into Mystery” #83 in August, 1962. “Thor: The Dark World” is presented by Marvel Studios. The executive producers are Louis D’Esposito, Alan Fine, Stan Lee, Victoria Alonso, Craig Kyle and Nigel Gostelow. The film releases November 8, 2013, and is distributed by Walt Disney Studios.