With Kenneth Branagh passing on directing Thor 2 (as we reported earlier today, he's making a movie set on Guernsey instead), Marvel has been on the lookout for people to take his place. It seems they've found the one they want, as Variety reports that Brian Kirk if in talks for the job.
He's not exactly a well known name, but he has done a lot of work in TV, directing episodes of the likes of Funland, The Riches, The Tudors, Dexter, Luther and Boardwalk Empire, as well as the TV movie My Boy Jack, starring Daniel Radcliffe. However it was the three episodes of HBO's Game Of Thrones he helmed that attracted the attention of Marvel. It was with this series that he proved he could manage a large ensemble in a fantasy epic, while grounding the grandiose nature of the genre in reality.
Thor 2 is expected to expands its cast of larger than life Aasgardians and mythical Norse creatures, making it one of the largest scale Marvel adventures to date. It's certainly a big job for Kirk to take on for the Irish born director's first Hollywood flick, but Marvel must have some confidence in him.