Earlier today we told you that due to a scheduling conflict with NBC’s upcoming new series Hannibal, director David Slade would be departing from the Daredevil reboot. The upcoming series for NBC is a high-profile project that will feature Mads Mikkelsen as the titular future-cannibal while Hugh Dancy will be at his right hand in a series regular role. Now, it seems Marvel is ready to suffer another blow thanks to Hannibal once more today as it’s been revealed that Mikkelsen simply can’t find the time for Marvel’s next sequel ready to enter production.
Mikkelsen told Zoomin Movies in an interview that due to the filming of Hannibal, he has been forced to leave his role in Thor 2. Mikkelsen was said to be in talks last month, and it seemed everything was great to have the actor join in as an undisclosed villain. Unfortunately, it seems that role will now be headed to someone else and it’s unclear just who will be filling in the casting vacancy.
“Yeah, that’s not happening unfortunately,” Mikkelsen said. “I had a meeting with them, but they were a little too late. And then ‘Hannibal’ came in, and everything just came in the same period, so now it’s not happening.” Mikkelsen’s Thor role was actually announced before he took on Hannibal Lecter, but with Bryan Fuller at the helm of Hannibal the goal is to produce 13 episodes for a mid-season debut. Fuller has been busy with Mockingbird Lane, a new take on The Munsters that production has wrapped on this past week, but Hannibal received a straight-to-series order from Fuller’s original script.
This casting update comes in light of the news that Zachary Levi is confirmed to replace Josh Dallas in the role of Fandral, while Anthony Hopkins will split time between the Thor sequel and RED 2 where he’ll play the central villain. Production is currently in preparation in London, with cameras set to roll next month. Plot details right now are incredibly slim, but are likely to be expanded upon during this week’s Iron Man 3 panel at Comic-Con.
Directed by Alan Taylor, and starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Jaimie Alexander, Idris Elba, Stellan Skarsgard, Zachary Levi and more, the sequel is scheduled to hit theaters on November 8th, 2013.
