THOR Director Kenneth Branagh Reveals Why He Decided Not To Direct THOR: THE DARK WORLD

@DarkDetective - I agree with a lot of that. The more Thor I read, the more frustrated I become that the film franchise has failed to tap into the source material's vast potential. Honestly, I don't blame any of that on the first film. It was a successful enough introduction that gave us a sense of that world and its characters while creating a bridge that made it work within the world of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. It's the sequels that failed to expand on the mythology. We see a few more realms in The Dark World, but never get to know much about them, their people, or even Thor's established supporting cast.

It's frustrating to see Ragnarok credited as fixing Thor. Personally I don't think it's a great movie, but that's a discussion for another time. The bigger frustration is that it doesn't even really try to be a Thor movie. We get some light backstory elements, but for most of the movie, it's Taika's spin on a Flash Gordon/Guardians of the Galaxy watered down Planet Hulk. Rather than investing in Thor's supporting cast, we barely see Heimdall, Loki does the same things he's always done, Sif isn't even mentioned, and The Warriors Three are killed off.

I do think stronger Game of Thrones elements could have been great. Obviously, there would be tonal adjustments and the conflict couldn't be quite as complex in a film series compared to television, but a lot of what people love about GoT and LotR could work within the Thor franchise.

As for Alan Taylor, idk. He seemed like he'd bring that GoT vibe to Thor but he lacked a passion/vision for the material and it just doesn't seem like he's a great film director after Dark World and Terminator Genisys.