Thor 2 Officially Hires Patty Jenkins As Director

It's hard not to feel sorry for Brian Kirk. Back in August it was reported that the Game of Thrones director had entered talks with Marvel to direct the sequel to this past summer's blockbuster Thor. Everyone took the news as being a done deal and it was assumed that Kirk would be making his feature film debut with the superhero project. Then one of the film's stars popped the bubble. Tom Hiddleston, who played the villainous Loki, revealed in an interview that deal with Kirk was not official and that other candidates were still being considered.

Enter Patty Jenkins. Last month the news came out that the filmmaker, who directed Charlize Theron to an Oscar in Monster, was being seriously looked at for Thor 2. Now that deal has been made official. Deadline has received a press release from Marvel Studios announcing that Jenkins will indeed be the helmer of the Norse god's next adventure. Since directing the serial killer drama back in 2003, Jenkins has largely worked on television, directing an episode of Arrested Development, two episodes of Entourage and the pilot for AMC's The Killing. The movie will be only her second feature.

The signing of Jenkins is obviously an outside-the-box choice, but an immensely intriguing one. What is it about her that Marvel sees as perfect for Thor 2? What was involved in her presentation? Because she's a smaller name than say Kenneth Branagh, budget probably played a part, but Jenkins is a talented filmmaker and it will be interesting to see what she can do with the material. As reported this morning, Thor 2 will arrive in theaters on November 15, 2013.