News > Vaughn Out of "Thor"

In a minor setback to the release of "Thor" in summer 2010, Matthew Vaughn is no longer in place to direct. The Hollywood Reporter claims that his holding deal expired in December and he has moved on to other work.

Something I hadn't heard before is that "Thor" might be a period fantasy in the vein of "Lord of the Rings" (these are Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige's words), as opposed to the original Marvel storyline of Don Blake discovering his true identity as the Norse God of Thunder and fighting crime in the present. Mark Protosevich ("I Am Legend") is doing a script polish for "Thor," and then hopefully this project can begin to take more shape.

On an unrelated note, though Robert Downey Jr. had a prenegotiated deal to reprise his role as Tony Stark in "Iron Man 2," there's some speculation that, in light of the first film's incredible success, Marvel might have to "sweeten the pot" to keep him from walking away. I wouldn't start fearing the worst just yet, but it's worth noting that not everything is a lock.

-David Morgan