Thor 2 hammers out July 2013 release date; Kenneth Branagh won't return

We loved Thor here at Punch Drunk Critics International. It wasn't a perfect film, but for me it had enough action plus unique family dynamics to keep me satisfied. By comparison to Green Lantern it's a friggin' masterpiece. There was some question about the possibility of a sequel after it's pedestrian(for a summer blockbuster, that is) $170M domestic haul, but the $430M plus global take pretty much sealed it. And now we know when that sequel will actually take place: July 26th 2013.

Pretty much everybody will be back. It's probably in their contracts to return, anyway. Who won't return is director Kenneth Branagh, with Deadline positing that he'll take on a producer role. So let the speculation on who'll take his place begin. That's a pretty big gig for somebody to snatch up.