The first of our superhero films from Marvel this year, Thor was an impressive box office and critical success when it came out in April this year, taking just shy of 0m. from its 0m. budget.

Pretty much ever since it found such success in cinemas, there’s been talk of a sequel, and it officially came out in the summer that the original’s director, Kenneth Branagh, was opting out of returning for the sequel, in what seemed to be a completely friendly parting.

Since then, there was first talk of Brian Kirk, best known for his work on Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones, coming on board the project, but then in October, Patty Jenkins officially signed on for the director’s job instead.

Earlier this month, though, word came that Jenkins and Marvel had parted ways based on creative differences, and the search has been back on since then to fill the empty chair. It looks like Marvel have now done just that, with Deadline reporting that Emmy-winning Alan Taylor will be the director for the superhero sequel.

Taylor’s name may not be a household name, but from what I’ve seen of his work, he’s a brilliant director, and after the awesome first film in which Branagh was unexpectedly cast, I can’t wait to see whatTaylorbrings to the table for the second film.

The director is largely best known for his TV credits, which include episodes on The West Wing, The Sopranos, Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, and Game of Thrones. So essentially, though you may not know his name well, you can trust that he’s an experienced director who knows exactly what he’s doing.

Thor was of course led by Chris Hemsworth, which did a great job of boosting the actor’s rising star, with support coming from the brilliant Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgård, Kat Dennings, Idris Elba, and of course, Clark Gregg reprising his role as Agent Coulson.

Marvel president Kevin Feige gave a few details of what we can expect from the sequel back in September:

“[Thor 2 will] primarily be the journey of that character, of he and Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and how the new dynamic with his father is working out, as well as what are the broader stakes for the Nine Worlds.”

We can look forward to seeing a lot more of Hemsworth next year, kicking off first with the Joss Whedon-scripted The Cabin in the Woods in April, followed two weeks later by the Whedon-directed and highly anticipated The Avengers (in which he will of course reprise his role as Thor), followed by Snow White and the Huntsman opposite Kristen Stewart in June, and then the Red Dawn remake towards the end of the year.

With all of them having been completed or in post-production, Hemsworth is set to next turn his attentions to Ron Howard’s Rush, which sounds like it’s going to be amazing. WithTaylornow on board, Thor 2 should be moving forward nicely with Hemsworth back in the lead, and should still be able to meet its target of a November, 2013 release date. More news as we get it.