his summer The Dark Knight and Iron Man made a shitload of money. The films cleaned up box offices worldwide and in doing so deepened Hollywood’s love for comic book adaptations. Superheroes make for ideal blockbusters because they come with built in brand name recognition, can attract major Hollywood players, and offer plenty of fodder for big screen spectacle. The studios were cranking them out left and right before and now we can only expect to see more of them. This week alone three major announcements have been made confirming additional superhero flicks. It’s a great time to be a spandex salesman.

Screw Shakespeare, It’s Thor time baby!

The first and most confusing announcement has to do with a cinematic outing for Thor. Marvel Studios is trying to get their entire back catalogue on the screen, particularly the members of the Avengers so that they can make a massive crossover movie down the line. As a result, it was inevitable that Thor would make it to the big screen. However, the fledging studio’s choice for director is definitely a shock. The man who will bring the Greek myth turned superhero to the screen will be none other than Kenneth Branagh.

Now, if you’re anything like me, I’m sure your reaction to that news is a resounding “what the fuck?!” Don’t get me wrong, if you want someone to adapt a Shakespeare play into a film, you call Branagh. The man has proven himself more than capable of doing that with such solid adaptations as Much Ado About Nothing and is 9.5 hour version of Hamlet. But a pulpy comic book movie? I don’t think he can handle it. When Branagh attempted to make a genre piece with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein the result was boring and pretentious. Granted, Thor tends to speak in iambic pentameter which is up Branagh’s ally, plus he has proven himself quiet adept at filming action with Henry V...but I just don’t think he can do pulp entertainment.