Thor: The Dark World Tadanobu Asano, Jaimie Alexander, and Rene Russo. In "Thor: The Dark World", Thor teams up with Loki to save the Nine Realms from the Dark Elves led by the vengeful Malekith, who intends to plunge the universe into darkness. Development of "Thor: The Dark World" began in April 2011, when producer Kevin Feige announced plans for a sequel to follow the crossover film "The Avengers". In July 2011, Kenneth Branagh, the director of "Thor", withdrew from the project. Brian Kirk and Patty Jenkins were considered to direct the film before Taylor was hired in January 2012. The supporting cast filled
Thor: The Dark World and a film I'm very proud of." The following day, Marvel formally hired Payne, one of the credited writers of the first film, to script the sequel. In August, Brian Kirk entered early negotiations to direct the "Thor" sequel. The film would have marked Kirk's first time directing a big-budget motion picture, after having directed television series for HBO, Showtime and the BBC, including "Game of Thrones". In September 2011, Tom Hiddleston confirmed he would return in the sequel, speculating that in the film, "[Loki will] have to take responsibility for what he's done". Patty Jenkins, the director of "Monster"