Director’s cuts aren’t anything new in Hollywood. Some eventually come out years after the final cut hit the big screen while others are just folklore. Zack Snyder’s Justice League was a shining light for many directors wanting to see their full vision come to life. That inspiration has filtered over to Thor: The Dark World director Alan Taylor. Years after the Thor sequel was met with mixed reception, The Many Saints of Newark director might be looking to do a Taylor cut.
In the pantheon of Marvel films, Thor: The Dark World has been regarded as one of the MCU’s weaker efforts. At the time, the story received the brunt of criticism. The film’s reception possibly led to Taika Waititi helming the well-received Thor: Ragnarok. But Alan Taylor was motivated by the grassroots effort behind Zack Snyder’s return to DC. But he doesn’t see Marvel doing for him and Thor 2 what Warner Bros. did for Snyder. The Many Saints of Newark director said about being a big champ of Snyder’s cut coming together:
I was cheering for Zack Snyder when he was doing that and thinking, Will he pull this off? This is amazing. I think every director was kind of rooting for that. I would love to, I mean to. Can you imagine that? They give me however many millions of dollars they gave him to go back in. Yeah, I don't think I'm going to get that phone call.
As Marvel fans have seen, Disney and Marvel Studios aren’t about looking back but moving forward. So, Alan Taylor getting another shot with Thor: The Dark World probably isn’t in the cards. If Taylor got the chance to, it would be a wonderful way for him to redeem himself and the sequel within the MCU legacy. It would be nice to see what scenes were left on the cutting room floor. But the Terminator Genisys director wasn’t done speaking on the film’s difficult journey to theaters.
According to Alan Taylor, the final product wasn’t the film he envisioned. Once Taylor was done filming the Thor sequel, he admitted that’s when the relationship began to deteriorate. The celebrated director broke down for Inverse what happened during post-production.
I focused all my attention on making a certain movie, and then in the editing process, decisions were made to change it a lot. My regret was that the movie that got released was changed quite a bit. I have a great fondness for some of the things that went away in the original cut. There was a kind of quality a wonder to the thing that was beautiful to me.
He did praise Kevin Feige for his overall vision for Marvel. Alan Taylor admitted the studio was looking for a more theatrical version of Game of Throne before changing course. Taylor’s story made it seem like moviegoers were robbed of an epic blockbuster. Of course, this wasn’t the first time the director addressed the studio’s involvement in the final cut. While a director’s cut may never happen, Marvel fans can enjoy the Thor trilogy, including Thor: The Dark World, on Disney+.
