Patty Jenkins Talks Thor 2 Exit & When Films Disservice Women
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has yet to produce a flop, but it has come close. When Thor: The [...]
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has yet to produce a flop, but it has come close. When Thor: The Dark World hit theaters, the blockbuster garnered mixed reviews from fans who bemoan the Thor film's lack of vision. When the movie first go green-lit, director Patty Jenkins was brought on to helm the film before she exited. Now, the Wonder Woman visionary is opening up about her Marvel leave, and she hints the troubled project made her second-guess her sign-on.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Jenkins refused to say what happened on-set which made her leave Thor: The Dark World. However, the director did talk about why she walked from an unnamed project which THR says rhymes with s'more. Hint: it's Thor.
"There have been things that have crossed my path that seemed like troubled projects," she explained.
"And I thought, 'If I take this, it'll be a big disservice to women. If I take this knowing it's going to be trouble and then it looks like it was me, that's going to be a problem. If they do it with a man, it will just be yet another mistake that the studio made. But with me, it's going to look like I dropped the ball, and it's going to send a very bad message.' So I've been very careful about what I take for that reason."
In the past, Jenkins has delved into her original vision for Thor: The Dark World. The director spoke with Buzzfeed and told the site she centered her Marvel pitch around Romeo & Juliet.
"I pitched them that I wanted to do Romeo and Juliet. I wanted Jane to be stuck on Earth and Thor to be stuck where he is. And Thor to be forbidden to come and save Jane because Earth doesn't matter. And then by coming to save her ... they end up discovering that Malekith is hiding the dark energy inside of Earth because he knows that Odin doesn't care about Earth, and so he's using Odin's disinterest in Earth to trick him," Jenkins revealed.
"And so it was like, I wanted it to be a grand [movie] based on Romeo and Juliet ... a war between the gods and the earthlings, and Thor saves the day and ends up saving Earth."
At first, Marvel Studios must have felt confident in the vision, but something eventually happened behind-the-scenes to change things. Jenkins wound up leaving the project, leaving Alan Taylor to helm the film which garnered mixed reviews.
Before she was Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), she was Diana, Princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, Diana meets an American pilot (Chris Pine) who tells her about the massive conflict that's raging in the outside world. Convinced that she can stop the threat, Diana leaves her home for the first time. Fighting alongside men in a war to end all wars, she finally discovers her full powers and true destiny.
Wonder Woman is directed by Patty Jenkins, from a screenplay by Allan Heinberg & Geoff Johns, story by Heinberg & Zack Snyder and Jason Fuchs, and stars Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, Elena Anaya, Lucy Davis, Saïd Taghmaoui, Ewen Bremner and David Thewlis.
Wonder Woman opens in theaters June 2, 2017.
MORE WONDER WOMAN NEWS: Gal Gadot On How Wonder Woman Feeds Into Her Justice League Role / Wonder Woman Director Addresses Criticism Of "Skimpy, Sexy Outfit"/ Director On Diana Versus Other Superheroes / Wonder Woman Artist Reveals What He Loves About The Movie
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