Chris Hemsworth reveals that he had gotten bored of his MCU character before he began working on Thor: Ragnarok with Taika Waititi. Having originated the role in 2011’s Thor, Hemsworth stands as one of the MCU’s veteran actors, having starred in six subsequent projects since his debut. As one of the original Avengers, Hemsworth has since grown with his character as the Marvel universe has progressed through its phases, with the star now set to appear in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder, which will mark his eighth appearance in the MCU.
While Hemsworth’s God of Thunder has long been a fan-favorite character for many, both Thor and its 2013 sequel, Thor: The Dark World often rank fairly low when it comes to audiences’ most beloved MCU films, with the sequel, in particular, having endured much criticism over the years. The release of 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok was a breath of fresh air for many who had been hoping for something new as Waititi put an entirely new spin on the character, with the film also marking a tonal shift in the Thor series as a whole. Following Thor: Ragnarok‘s success, Waititi has since returned to direct Thor: Love and Thunder, which will also see him reprise his character Korg.
While sitting down with Vanity Fair recently to take a retrospective look at his career, Hemsworth opened up about his previous frustrations with Thor as a character and how Waititi ultimately worked with him to alleviate these concerns. The actor discussed his disappointment with his performance in Thor: The Dark World revealing that he felt as though he didn’t allow the character to grow in any way. Hemsworth went on to share how he expressed this boredom to Waititi during the early stages of Thor: Ragnarok‘s production, revealing that the director felt the same way, leading the pair to work together to dismantle the character. Check out Hemsworth’s full quote below.
I wasn’t stoked with what I’d done in Thor 2, you know, I was a little disappointed in what I’d done. I didn’t think I grew the character in any way, I didn’t think I showed an audience something unexpected and different. And then when Ragnarok came along, out of my own sort frustration of what I had done, and this is not on any other director or anyone this is my own performance, I really wanted to break the mould and I said this to Taika and I think the conversation we had was I said “I’m really bored of Thor” and he said “Yeah, I’m really bored of Thor too.” And then we decided not to be bored and anytime that feeling came into play, we’d go in a different direction.
And so, we just dismantled the character. We wanted to have him be a little more unpredictable. We wanted him to be in a different set of circumstances than he’d been in before and also have the humor come through. You know, I had a great relationship with Taika and we had a great sense of humor and banter with us and I thought, let’s make sure we cram that into this space and the character he played of Korg then was there, so it was kind of a lot of.. it was him and I improvising and him and I as our most truthful version of ourselves.
Hemsworth has previously discussed his affection for Thor, having opened up about how the character has been a constant throughout not only his career but his everyday life. Hemsworth also recently revealed that Waititi’s involvement with Thor: Love and Thunder was pivotal to him signing on to play Thor once again, revealing that he wasn’t sure that he would have agreed to the project had Waititi not been at the helm. While Thor may be largely unrecognizable from his 2011 iteration, Thor: Love and Thunder is set to see elements of the hero’s past resurface as his old flame Jane Foster will return, played by Natalie Portman.
It’s certainly sweet to hear that Hemsworth is more than satisfied with how Thor: Ragnarok shifted Thor’s character arc. While Ragnarok could be regarded as a more light-hearted approach to the previously gloomy character, the film still acknowledged its heavier themes, while also allowing Hemsworth to show off his more comedic side. From what’s been teased so far, Thor: Love and Thunder looks set to continue down this same path while also showcasing Hemsworth and Waititi’s affection for the character and, with just weeks to go, there isn’t long until audiences learn what the duo has in store for the God of Thunder this time around.
Source: Vanity Fair
