Yeah, we know, we’re going to have to change our name to The Thorlist if this doesn’t stop soon. Having exceeded expectations to become one of the top-grossing films of the year so far, Marvel are understandably keen to get moving on a sequel to “Thor“, even with the character reappearing next summer in “The Avengers,” and announced last night that Chris Hemsworth would be returning to the role in a sequel, which will hit theaters in the summer of 2013, although his director Kenneth Branagh, won’t be at the helm again, although will be involved in some kind of producing capacity.
18 hours later, we’re no closer to finding out who’ll be taking over from Branagh (we did guess at 5 likely candidates), but we do now at least know the man who’ll be penning the script: Deadline report that Don Payne, one of the credited writers on the first film, will be returning for another chance at bat.
Payne started off as a TV writer, including on sixteen episodes of “The Simpsons” (in the last decade, natch), before making his movie break through with the comedic train wreck that was “My Super Ex-Girlfriend.” He went on to share credit on both “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” and “Thor,” as well as penning an unmade draft of a film based on DC supervillain “Lobo.” None of this bodes especially well, although it does at least suggest that the comedy, which went some way towards giving the first film a little charm, won’t be forgotten this time out. Payne had better get cracking: “Thor 2” is due for release on July 26 2013, and we’d wager that Marvel will want to appoint a director almost immediately.
