When Marvel Studios announced it was making a live-action movie about its god of thunder, "Thor," fans of the comic books were mostly excited. But when the studio revealed its choice of director, seasoned Shakespearian thespian Kenneth Branagh, the reactions were surprised, and decidedly mixed.
Now that the trailer is out and the cast and crew have made the rounds at San Diego Comic-Con, however, it seems the buzz is mostly positive for Branagh.
When MTV News caught up with Marvel chief Kevin Feige during our live-stream show at Comic-Con, he revealed how Branagh landed the gig.
"He chased it pretty hard," Feige said. "We had a number of good meetings. He flew himself over to meet with me. We had a number of phone calls, a number of sessions — more meetings than I've ever had with a director before we'd brought them on."
Feige added that through those first meetings with Branagh, he quickly learned that the actor had a lot more invested in the character than Feige originally realized.
"He's a big, giant 'Thor' fan," Feige said. "He clearly is a very literate guy when it comes to Shakespeare, and when it comes to almost anything, including Marvel's 'Thor,' which was a surprise to us.
"Also, just talking about movies," he continued. "We love the same kind of movies, we love the same kind of things, and when you have someone who's as talented as Ken is in one arena and bring him into another one, he is going to succeed."
Feige went on to say that Marvel was fully behind Branagh in every step of his filmmaking process.
"We have the department heads, we have the great resources to help him," he said. "What he brings to us is bringing our characters to life in a big way."
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