Everyone was overjoyed when Thor: Ragnarok hit theaters back in 2017. The tropey blond macho-man of the first two Thor movies was tapping into a goofier, more colorful side of himself, and breathing new life into the MCU in the process. Ahead of the release of Thor: Love and Thunder, leading man Chris Hemsworth is sharing how his director Taika Waititi brought out the fun in the God of Thunder.
“He brought out the immature, young, adolescent quality that I embody,” Hemsworth told Vital Thrills. “And so does Thor now, which he didn’t in the original films, which was exciting and new and fresh,” he continued. Off-screen, Hemsworth is one of the most delightful Marvel stars there is, with a big grin and words of encouragement always on deck. Waititi recognized this and decided he had to bring those qualities to Thor.
“Taika certainly brought another dimension that was always there within Chris,” Marvel Studies boss Kevin Feige shared. This new tone being introduced in the Thor series so late in the game was a big reason why the studio just couldn’t help but make a fourth movie with the Waititi-Hemsworth duo, making Thor the first Marvel superhero to get four films as the title character.
“Having fun,” Hemsworth says, is the “North Star” on the set of Thor now. For the actor, this approach to the Norse God superhero is all about “embodying this space as a child would and enjoying all of it and being caught up in the wonder and the fascination of all of it.”
Unlike what happened in 2011’s Thor and, especially, 2013’s Thor: The Dark World, Hemsworth didn’t want to get “bogged down in the serious sort of nature” of “making films.”
“Personally, with these kind of films, it’s got to be fun, and that’s what we’ve done. That’s what I’ve related to. That’s what Taika’s kind of insisted upon, and it’s been fun.”
MCU fans will be able to go on this joyride when Thor: Love and Thunder, starring Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Natalie Portman and Christian Bale, hits theaters July 8.
