THR and Deadline both report that Disney/Marvel may have made up their mind as to who will direct the sequel to "Thor," (yes, already greenlit - that's what that monster of an overseas boxoffice gross will net you) and that the selection will be yet another Marvel Studios head-scratcher: Patty Jenkins, primarily known as a TV director (late of the pilot for AMC's "The Killing") save for 2003's "Charlize Theron Needs An Oscar" (released in most territories as "Monster.")
If selected, this will make Jenkins the first woman to direct a Marvel Studios feature. The extremely-underappreciated "Punisher: WarZone" was directed by Lexi Alexander but produced and released by a different studio.
This is the part where we're all supposed to speculate that the script may have a heavier emphasis on the relationship drama and/or Natalie Portman's Jane Foster (the issue of "how did Thor come back to Earth?" will, of course, be answered by "The Avengers" because Continuity Is Your Friend) or that female villain The Enchantress may make an appearance; but the truth is probably closer to Marvel's "Moneyball"-style management (re: right fee, right availability, project is producer-driven enough to afford a directorial risk, etc.)
In any case, it's pretty interesting as a development: Female directors have a tough time in the feature realm unless they're working in the "chick-flick" ghetto, and women getting assigned to big-ticket genre fare is basically unheard of; to say nothing of getting assigned to the follow-up to what is thus far Marvel's second biggest-earning screen hero. Kenneth Branagh turned out to be an inspired choice, so we'll see.
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