'Game of Thrones' Director Takes Over 'Thor 2' Job

Asgard has a new leader, and he's a guy with some experience in usurping thrones. Alan Taylor, who directed "Games of Thrones" as well as episodes of "Boardwalk Empire" and "Bored to Death," has stepped in to direct the Marvel sequel "Thor 2."

This follows recent news that the director originally signed to the project, Patty Jenkins, was suddenly and unceremoniously fired from the job. Marvel cited creative differences with Jenkins, worrying that her plans for the film would be difficult to shoot on schedule for Marvel's tight set of release dates.

The firing probably irked Jenkins plenty, but it was Natalie Portman who made headlines after the firing. Portman was reportedly very upset about the decision, likely because Jenkins would have been the first female director to take on a major superhero franchise film.

So one has to wonder how Portman is reacting, knowing that Marvel stepped out and got a male director to take over. Taylor has lots of TV credits, but little in terms of feature film credits... but considering the cinematic nature of shows like "Game of Thrones," he will hopefully be able to step in and perform well. His involvement with the HBO fantasy show could be a nice bridge as well, considering the heightened language used in both projects (people speak pretty fancily in Asgard).

But if Portman isn't thrilled with the director, the project could suffer as a result. Here's hoping the team works things through and we get a sequel befitting of the excellent "Thor."