In news that should surprise just about nobody, Geek Tyrant is reporting that a sequel for Thor is on track now for some time in 2013. This is the second Marvel Studios feature firmly set for release that year with Iron Man 3 slated to hit on May 3rd, 2013 already. Marvel having a couple of movies out in a year isn’t that much of a problem, as it’s happened before and is happening now, so they’ll likely have it hit in the summer. what is interesting is that while Chris Hemsworth is naturally back to take on the role of the god of thunder, Kenneth Branagh won’t be returning for a second go around. Branagh has seen Thor as an opportunity to get back into the game a bit with directing after not doing anything since 2007 and working largely with quiet movies since the 1996 release of Hamlet. The success of Thor, and it being a big budget feature that had a lot of work to do to make people believe, was a perfect pairing for him and has likely opened up some new doors to other features. For Marvel, it was a win/win no matter what because they got to use a director that has name value among fans, works well with the subject matter and can part ways amicably because everything worked well. According to the report, his leaving was “mutual and amicable” and it’s expected that he’ll be serving as a producer of some sort to help guide it along to some degree. And as is also said, it’s easy to imagine a number of directors hastily making calls and looking to see what they can do to get in on the job for Thor 2.
Update: According to Super Hero Hype, it’s been scheduled for July 26th, 2013, which has no other films yet scheduled for it. This essentially mirrors how things played out this year with Thor and Captain America.
