In an admittedly shocking show of humility out of not just an industry, but a franchise that has become notorious for refusing any and all criticisms, Marvel star Chris Hemsworth has admitted that he missed the mark when it came to his over-the-top, ‘wacky’ performance as the titular Avenger in Thor: Love and Thunder.
Hemsworth publicly copped to his part in the film’s failure – which, let’s be honest, had little to do with his acting and everything to do with director Taika Waititi’s creative choices – during a recent interview given to Vanity Fair‘s Karen Valby’s for the May 2024 issue of their print magazine.
At one point during the interview turning to reflect on his history as the God of Thunder, the actor recalled to Valby that while he was thankful for the chance to portray the hero, his sidelining in recent films have begun to make him feel “like a security guard for the team.”
“I would read everyone else’s lines, and go, Oh, they got way cooler stuff,” he asserted. “They’re having more fun. What’s my character doing? It was always about, ‘You’ve got the wig on. You’ve got the muscles. You’ve got the costume. Where’s the lighting?’ Yeah, I’m part of this big thing, but I’m probably pretty replaceable.”
Further compounding Hemsworth’s sentiment was the fact that, even by his own admission, his widely-panned performance in Thor: Love and Thunder did little to help bolster the hero’s overall franchise standing.
“I got caught up in the improv and the wackiness, and I became a parody of myself,” he told Valby. “I didn’t stick the landing.”
Notably, this is not the first time the Australian actor has recognized the tonally-bizarre disaster of his most recent MCU adventure.
Speaking to the topic of Love and Thunder‘s poor quality during a June 2023 interview with the British edition of GQ, Hemsworth asserted, “I cringe and laugh equally at it.”
“I think we just had too much fun It just became too silly,” reflected Hemsworth. “It’s always hard being in the centre 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.”
Yet despite this admission of Love and Thunder’s less-than-impressive quality, Hemsworth would admit that he would still be open to returning as the Golden Avenger, albeit with one condition: Marvel has to do something new with the character.
“I love the experience,” said the actor. “I love the fact that I’ve been able to do something fairly different throughout the process. Thor 1 and 2 were their own thing, Thor 3 and 4 were a very different feel… and then even Avengers, the Lebowski Thor, the Infinity War Thor, due to different directors and I think mostly my own need to do something different.”
“You know, I got sick of the character pretty quick every couple of years,” he admitted. “If I was going to do something again it would have to be tonally different. And we’d have to do something very drastic to keep people on their toes. Otherwise it’s just the fatigue of those characters and those films, where people are like, ‘I’ve seen it.'”
