Director Alan Taylor Talks Balancing Sci-Fi And Fantasy For THOR: THE DARK WORLD
With "sword/laser gun" fights in Thor: The Dark World, among other science fiction & fantasy mash-ups, director Alan Taylor explains how he grounded and balanced those elements in the Marvel sequel.
"One of my favorite lines in the first movie was [when] Thor says to Jane 'there's magic and there's science and I come from a land where they're one in the same.' It's a great way of [explaining] that challenge [of balancing science fiction]. And it means the movie lives in a kind of middle ground - we have spaceships, we have laser guns, we have interplanetary travel. We also have horses, swords, and castles. If you get that wrong the whole falls apart and you laugh. If you get it right, it has the power of both and becomes unique in a way. I'm thinking we got it right, I'm hoping we got it right. But there are moments when there's a guy with a sword fighting a guy with a laser rifle and you think 'is this really gonna make sense; can these things really be in the same movie together. And I think there's a trick to it."
"I was never a fantasy fan, but then I started doing Game of Thrones and the things that made me love it were whatever the trappings of the world were, you were always rooted in the character you cared about. And the thing you were seeing felt real. And that's the same quality I'd hope to get [with Thor: The Dark World]. If we're going to Asgard, it should really feel like a place. If we're going to the Dark World of the Dark elves it should feel like an actual landscape and planet and the people that you're dealing with should sweat and bleed. So hopefully we grounded [the movie] despite there being two of the most pretend genres mashed together."
Marvel Studios’ “Thor: The Dark World” continues the big-screen adventures of Thor, the Mighty Avenger, as he battles to save Earth and all the Nine Realms from a shadowy enemy that predates the universe itself. In the aftermath of Marvel’s “Thor” and “Marvel’s The Avengers,” Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos…but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all. Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Christopher Eccleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano and Jaimie Alexander with Rene Russo & Anthony Hopkins as Odin, “Thor: The Dark World” is directed by Alan Taylor, produced by Kevin Feige, from a story by Don Payne and screenplay by Christopher Yost and Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely and is based on Marvel’s classic Super Hero Thor, who first appeared in the comic book “Journey into Mystery” #83 in August, 1962. “Thor: The Dark World” is presented by Marvel Studios. The executive producers are Louis D’Esposito, Alan Fine, Stan Lee, Victoria Alonso, Craig Kyle and Nigel Gostelow. The film releases November 8, 2013, and is distributed by Walt Disney Studios.