Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins was first offered Thor 2, here’s why she refused

Director Patty Jenkins was largely credited with the success of DC’s Wonder Woman, but before that, she was supposed to helm Thor 2 for rival Marvel Studios. Jenkins had not directed a film in more a decade when Marvel offered her the opportunity to jump aboard the second Thor film, but she ultimately dropped out.

In a new interview to Vanity Fair, Jenkins said that she knew if the film failed, everybody would blame her. She said, “I did not believe that I could make a good movie out of the script that they were planning on doing. I think it would have been a huge deal—it would have looked like it was my fault. It would’ve looked like, ‘Oh my God, this woman directed it and she missed all these things.’ That was the one time in my career where I really felt like, do this with [another director] and it’s not going to be a big deal. And maybe they’ll understand it and love it more than I do.”

She continued, “You can’t do movies you don’t believe in. The only reason to do it would be to prove to people that I could. But it wouldn’t have proved anything if I didn’t succeed. I don’t think that I would have gotten another chance. And so, I’m super grateful.”

Also read: Chris Hemsworth reviews Thor The Dark World in one scathing word

But Jenkins praised Marvel for taking a chance on her. “I really have nothing but positive things to say about Marvel, because, honestly, they gave me that chance in the first place and it was not en vogue to do so,” she said. She also applauded Marvel’s decision to bring director Taika Waititi into the mix. Waititi is largely credited with giving Thor a new lease on life. “They found Thor’s rightful director. Taika’s so good for Thor. Oh my God, I love that movie. His tone with Thor was just masterful. That felt like pure Taika to me,” she said.

The second Thor film is often considered the ugly duckling of the MCU. Even Chris Hemsworth, in an interview to GQ, said, “The second one is meh.” Director Alan Taylor, who was ultimately hired to replace Jenkins, told Uproxx, “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.”

Jenkins is now looking forward to the release of Wonder Woman 1984, which recently pushed back its release to August, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

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