Legendary Writer Neil Gaiman Almost Made A Thor Series – But He Clashed With Marvel

Legendary writer Neil Gaiman knows a thing or two about Norse mythology. His book "American Gods" (which was turned into a TV show that went through a lot of problems) features characters like Odin and Loki. Gaiman also wrote an enjoyable book called "Norse Mythology," described on the book jacket as "a bravura rendition of the great northern tales." Gaiman has also created some of the most renowned comics of all time, most notably his "The Sandman" series. With all that in mind, it seems like Gaiman would be perfect to write a story about the Marvel character Thor. And as it turns out, that almost happened. 

In a new Tumblr post, Gaiman revealed that a few years ago (2006, to be exact) he was asked to write an animated series about Thor for Marvel. Gaiman took the gig seriously and dove into research. But the project fizzled when he butted heads with what Marvel had in mind. 

Here's what Gaiman had to say:

Long ago — around 2006 — I was asked to create a Thor animated cartoon, and I got all excited, and the brief was it had to be set before the Thor movie. I did a deep Thor dive, reread everything Jack Kirby drew, came up with a whole story shape that ran a few seasons showing young Loki going from hero-worshipping his big brother to Going to the Bad, and then they told me I wasn't actually allowed to have any of the characters at any point be different in any way from how they were in the Thor movie, so I said no thank you and stopped.

The timeline here is a little confusing. Gaiman says he was asked to write this animated series in 2006, but Marvel didn't want him to add details that weren't in the "Thor" movie. However, the first "Thor" movie didn't come out until 2011. Did Gaiman take several years to put together his ideas? Or did Marvel simply have the "Thor" screenplay sitting around for several years, waiting to get made? There was definitely development on the solo "Thor" project back in 2006, so perhaps Marvel already had their concepts set in stone for the character. 

In any case, this is a huge missed opportunity. An animated "Thor" series created by Gaiman has a ton of potential, and we missed out by being denied its completion. Perhaps Marvel can get Gaiman to repurpose his ideas for an episode of the animated series "What If...?" Or maybe not.