Wonder Woman’s Patty Jenkins quit Thor sequel because she feared she’d receive blame for poor script

Jenkins left ‘The Dark World’ due to ‘creative differences’ with Marvel in 2012

Adam White
Thursday 26 March 2020 11:06 GMT
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Wonder Woman 1984 - Trailer

Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins has finally revealed why she quit 2013’s Thor: The Dark World.

Jenkins was signed up to direct the Thor sequel, before departing the film amid “creative differences” with Marvel before production began. She was ultimately replaced by Alan Taylor, and the movie itself would go on to be widely considered one of the worst in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Jenkins has now explained that she knew she couldn’t fix a bad script.

“I did not believe that I could make a good movie out of the script that they were planning on doing,” Jenkins told Vanity Fair.

“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.’”

If Jenkins had stayed with Thor: The Dark World, it would have marked the first film of the modern comic book adaptation era to be directed by a woman. The significantly better-received Wonder Woman, released in 2017, ultimately became the movie to hold that distinction.

Jenkins continued: “[Thor] 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.’

“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.”

Jenkins’ departure from the Thor sequel is widely believed to have led to a creative dispute between Marvel and Thor actor Natalie Portman in 2012. Portman had previously petitioned Marvel to hire a female director for the film.

Wonder Woman 1984, Jenkins’ sequel to the 2017 blockbuster, will be released 14 August after being delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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