Elizabeth Banks wanted to direct ‘Thor: Ragnarok,’ but got ghosted by Marvel

Even though Thor: Ragnarok can justifiably be called one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s finest-ever installments.

After the disappointing The Dark World – a film that suffered so much behind the scenes turmoil that Alan Taylor has basically divorced himself from it, and that was after original helmer Patty Jenkins had exited the project – the Odinson was in desperate need of a reinvention, which made Waititi the right filmmaker at the right time.

And yet, one candidate who wanted the job didn’t even end up hearing back from the studio at all, as revealed in a new Variety profile on Cocaine Bear’s Elizabeth Banks. When opening up on her desire to tackle an effects-driven, technical production, it’s noted that she was “interested” in directing Ragnarok, “but never heard back from Marvel.”

“I definitely wanted to make something muscular and masculine. I wanted to break down some of the mythology around what kinds of movies women are interested in making. For some bizarre reason, there are still executives in Hollywood who are like, ‘I don’t know if women can do technical stuff.’ There are literally people who are like, ‘Women don’t like math.’ It just persists.”

At the time, Banks only had Pitch Perfect 2 on her resume from behind the camera, and she’d go on to follow that up with divisive bomb Charlie’s Angels, although it’s curious to imagine how different the trajectory of the MCU could have turned out if she hadn’t just been ignored by the studio, but ended up getting the job.