Chris Hemsworth on Continuing to Play Thor and Keeping Him "A Little Unpredictable"
Chris Hemsworth has been playing Thor for Marvel Studios for a long time, and over the course of his run, the character has continued to be reinvented and has turned into quite a silly character. The actor and the filmmakers that he’s worked with definitely want to keep audiences on their toes and give them something new.
During a recent interview with EW, the actor talked about the possibility of returning to play the character again in another Thor movie, and he explains that he wants to keep Thor “a little unpredictable.” He explained:
“I don’t want to continue to do it until people are so exhausted that they roll their eyes when they see me come on the screen as that character. If an audience wants to see it, and if there’s something that we believe is exciting and fun, then great. I’ve loved being able to reinvent that character a few times. I don’t have the answer yet, but I would love to try and [figure out] how we can do that again and keep it a little unpredictable.”
It’s been interesting seeing the character change over the years, but when Thor: Love and Thunder came around, it went beyond silly, to the point where it was more annoying than fun to watch. Even Hemsworth thought that they took it too far. He previously explained that even his children's friends criticized the movie to his face:
"It's a bunch of eight-year-olds critiquing my film. We thought this one had too much humor, the action was cool but the VFX weren't as good.' I cringe and laugh equally at it. I think we just had too much fun. It just became too silly. It's always hard being in the center of it and having any real perspective… I love the process, it's always a ride. But you just don't know how people are going to respond."
As for where Thor’s story should go next with a fifth film, Hemsworth previously shared:
"I mean you look at Thor one and two, they were quite similar. Ragnarok and Love & Thunder: similar. I think it's just about re-inventing it. And I've had such a unique opportunity even with [Avengers] Infinity War and Endgame to do very drastic things with the character; I enjoy that, I like keeping people on their toes, it keeps me on my toes, keeps me invested. And I've said this before: when it becomes too familiar, I think there's a risk of getting lazy I think, like 'Ah, I know what I'm doing,' you know? So I don't know – again, I don't even know if I'm invited back. But if I was, I think it'd have to be a drastically different version – tone, everything. Just for my own sanity [laughs]."
I’m sure that one day we will see Hemsworth back in the role of Thor, and it will be interesting to see what that film turns out to be. How will the character be reinvented for his return? One thing we know for sure is that they will pull back on the silliness next time around.