In further confirmation that the actor – like most everyone – is fed up with the director’s blatant disrespect for the character, Chris Hemsworth has declared that his return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Thor is contingent on being able to play a “drastically different” version of the character compared to his portrayal under the irony-laden direction of Taika Waititi.
Hemsworth spoke to his potential future as the Mjolnir wielding Norse god during a November 23rd appearance on entertainment reporter Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast.
[Time stamp: 23:00]
Asked by Horowitz “where do you go with Thor at this point?”, Hemsworth asserted that while he was unsure if he would even get another chance to pick up the hammer now that his Marvel Studios contract had closed out with Thor: Love and Thunder, should he ever get the chance to reprise the role, he would love to see his thus-far-career-defining character written in a way more akin to the tortured hero he was in the last two Avengers movies rather than as the brawns-over-brains comic relief he was in his last two solo outings.
“I think, you look at Thor and Thor: The Dark World, and they were quite similar,” the actor opined to his host. “Ragnarok, Love and Thunder, similar. I think it’s about reventing him.”
“I think I’ve had such a unique opportunity with Infinity War and Endgame to do very drastic things with the character – I enjoy that, you know,” he added, doing his best to sidestep calling out Waititi’s indifference to good storytelling by name.
“I like keeping people on their toes,” he continued. “It keeps me invested. I’ve said this before but when it becomes too familiar, I think there’s a risk in getting lazy, because then you go ‘Eh, I know what I’m doing.'”
Ultimately, Hemsworth admitted, “So I don’t know. I mean, I don’t even know if I’m invited back, but if I was, I think it would have to be a drastically different version, in tone, in everything, just for my own sanity.”
As noted above, this is not the first time Hemsworth has expressed public dissatisfaction with Waititi’s handling of the God of Thunder.
Speaking with Vanity Fair in the wake of the discovery that, as revealed in the fifth episode of his Disney Plus series Limitless, he is genetically predisposed to Alzheimer’s Disease, Hemsworth was asked by outlet writer Anthony Breznican if “these experiences focused on longevity change the way you plan your own future?”, to which the actor confirmed, “One hundred percent”.
“I’m just at the point of my life where I’m meeting with different directors and [people say] ‘Oh yeah, look, he’s a mad genius, he’s mad, but he’s a genius and he’ll make great films,’ and I’m like, ‘Is that who I want to spend my days with?’ said the actor, taking an ostensible dig at Waititi. “Four months, five months of shooting and then you’ve got press and possible reshoots and so on.”
To this end, he informed the outlet that, “Now, if something’s going to pull me away from my family and my kids, it’s got to be a positive, constructive, collaborative experience.”
“I shot with George Miller on the new prequel to Fury Road [Furiosa], part of the Mad Max saga,” he recalled, “and I said to my agent said, ‘That’s where I want to spend my work hours; with someone who is kind and collaborative and interesting.’”
