Are you still smarting from director Patty Jenkins‘ ousting from Thor 2? Well, don’t hold your breath, because unless Lionsgate is hiding some female directors under their hat as their trump card for the rest of the Hunger Games franchise, that sinking feeling of despair that women never get to direct major franchise films isn’t going away any time soon! But we here at the Mary Sue can at least help dull the pain by reminding you that if you’re looking for talented female filmmakers, the odds actually are in your favor.

The search is on for a director to helm the sequel to last year’s Captain America: The First Avenger, and while there are frustratingly no women to report on the short list, at least the final candidates are a very interesting group. And perhaps looking to the hype and buzz surrounding The Avengers, whose director (Joss Whedon) is known for his work on the small screen, Marvel has a pair of sitcom-directing brothers up for the job. Joe and Anthony Russo, Emmy winners for their work on Arrested Development and nominated for their work on NBC‘s Community, are strong contenders.

A rare picture taken of a female Stormtrooper at home, before Death Star’s women’s lib movement. By Caroline Sauvage, who takes all kinds of pictures of fun things. (via Trend Hunter)

We’re sure that you’re well aware of the paltry numbers concerning the presence of women in film. Not actors — directors, writers, producers, etc. The people behind the scenes who call the shots. It’s been great to hear about recent successes — like Kathryn Bigelow winning an Oscar for The Hurt Locker in 2010 and Jennifer Yuh Nelson becoming the world’s highest grossing director — but it’s more frustrating to hear about the missed opportunities — like Patty Jenkins being replaced as the director of Thor 2 or Brenda Chapman being taken off Brave. But why are the successes so few and far between? The Sundance Film Festival, taking place in the snowy mountains of Utah as we speak, is hoping to change this. Along with Women In Film, the Sundance Institute has pledged to start tracking the progress of female filmmakers, then use that information to increase the parity between men and women in the film industry. Because seriously, it shouldn’t be that shocking to find out that women can direct a great movie — they do it all the time.

Well, you can’t win ‘em all, right? Some things really sucked this year, including some of the same things that rocked. Obviously they sucked for different reasons, but I thought I’d take this space to express my total disappointment in some things. Join me in a brief hatefest, won’t you?

Marvel has found someone with epic credentials to direct Thor 2 — Alan Taylor, best known for directing episodes of HBO‘s Game of Thrones, will take over for Patty Jenkins, who departed the project earlier this month. Taylor was one of two directors in the final running to take over the superhero sequel, ultimately beating out Daniel Minahan, who also directed episodes of Game of Thrones. But what the world is surely going to wonder now is whether or not this will please Natalie Portman.

Seems we’re not the only ones upset at the firing of Patty Jenkins from the set of Thor 2. According to the reliable Hollywood Reporter, star Natalie Portman is giving Marvel a piece of her mind. So much so that even though she’s contractually obligated to the movie, Marvel is making concessions “Marvel is now said to be working overtime to smooth over the situation by including her in discussions about whom to hire as a replacement.”

Why so serious, Natalie? Well, it turns out Portman pushed for Jenkins’ hiring in the first place as a feature that would keep her enthusiastically in the production.

“I have had a great time working at Marvel. We parted on very good terms, and I look forward to working with them again,” Patty Jenkins told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this week, in her official statement on leaving the production of Thor 2. THR conducted an interview and photoshoot with her her only a few days before her departure was suddenly announced, in which she said:

I have a long love of superhero films and I’d been saying over and over again to my agents at CAA that I’d like to do one. That’s the real revolution.The Marvel guys are so brave in terms of who they choose overall, and I don’t think they had any pause about me being a woman.

Man, we’re having such a sad about this. Hopefully that “looking forward to working with them again” isn’t just industry speak, and Jenkins will actually get a crack at a Marvel story sometime soon.

In the meantime, Marvel needs to find a director, ASAP. And according to THR they’ve narrowed it to two.

So here’s a story that we’re very unlikely to ever hear the full version of: Patty Jenkins, director of the award winning Monster, has left the production of Thor 2 due to “creative differences.” Thor 2 still has almost two years to get itself done before its unshakable release date in the regimented scheme of Marvel Universe movies, but considering the lengthy post-production process for the effects laden series Marvel is already casting around for new talent to helm the wing-helmed god’s second title role.

This is particularly disappointing news for us at The Mary Sue, because Jenkins would have been the first female director to have a movie set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe put in her care. And can you blame us for being interested in seeing Jenkins, whose most celebrated film rides the line between sympathizing with and demonizing its villainous protagonist, tackle the Thor/Loki relationship? But there may yet be a tiny, possibly illusory ray of hope.

Well, this is pretty cool: Way back when Kenneth Branagh was getting ready to direct Tom Hiddleston in Thor, he gave the actor two movies to watch to keep in mind when he created the character of Loki — The Lion in Winter starring Peter O’Toole and Monster. Now you’re asking why we bothered to do a post about this, and here’s why: Monster was directed by Patty Jenkins, who will be directing Hiddleston in Thor 2. It’s a small world after all, everyone!