Man, Patty Jenkins’ Vision for ‘Thor: The Dark World’ Sounds Awesome, Especially If You’re Jane Foster
Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman is about to finally hit theaters this weekend, but there was a time when she was part of an equally as high-profile superhero movie gig a few years ago. Jenkins was the director of Thor: The Dark World for a few months, before she and Marvel had to part due to those pesky “creative differences.” But Jenkins isn’t sore over it — she’s currently responsible for the highest-reviewed DC movie yet.
In a fantastic new interview with Indiewire, Jenkins spoke about her time with Marvel, and described what the plot of The Dark World might have been. Marvel hasn’t had a great track record with giving love interests their due. Pepper Potts and Tony Stark broke up for… some reason a few movies ago, and no one can forget Jane Foster, played by Natalie Portman, of all people, being unceremoniously dropped from the Thor movies.
The director’s initial plan for her “Thor 2” was a Romeo-and-Juliet-esque space opera that hinged on the separation of Thor and Jane Foster, a tone and direction that’s very different from what emerged in Taylor’s final film.
Umm, that sounds terrific, and would have given Jane something to do, instead of whatever happened to her in the actual movie. Jenkins, obviously, isn’t too torn up about having to leave the project, but she explained why she felt like, in the long run, it was a good thing.
It was painful and sad because I really loved those guys and I loved the idea of us making a ‘Thor’ together, but it’s one of those things. You have to make sure that the movie you want to make is fully the right movie for that studio too. It was heartbreaking, but I also knew that it was good. I knew that it was good because I didn’t think I could make a great film out of their script.
She was also aware of how her taking on a job she didn’t 100% believe in would have ramifications for female directors everywhere, because that’s the world Hollywood lives in.
As heartbreaking as it was, I was also like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t do something I don’t believe in, in that big of a scale.’ I knew that that was going to set [not only] me back, but also women directors back.
It’s unfortunate that she was probably right — these days, if a woman directs a bad movie, she stands much more of a chance of being thrown in movie jail for the next ten years than a man does. Thankfully for Jenkins, Wonder Woman, the first female-led and female-directed superhero movie of the current era, is the highest-reviewed DC movie yet, by a lot. That’s gotta count for something.
Wonder Woman is now playing.