It’s Chris Hemsworth’s own bad luck that not only does the script of Avengers: Infinity War dictate that his character makes the last fatal error of the entire film, but it also provides the most memorable and meme-able of lines to summarize this screw-up. We dread to imagine the flack that Chris Pratt would receive if Star-Lord’s famous slip-up could be condensed into a passage of dialogue as simple and catchy as “You should have gone for the head.”
Alas, it’ll probably be a long time now before people stop reminding Hemsworth of the God of Thunder’s latest blunder, and apparently, even his colleagues are still ribbing him for his failure to kill Thanos at the last possible moment. Just take co-star Chadwick Boseman for example, who had the cheek to mention Thor’s mistake in the midst of a belated birthday message.
The Black Panther star tweeted the following just one day after Hemsworth turned 35:
“Shoulda gone for his head, bro. It was literally right there. Just sayin. Happy belated Born Day, @chrishemsworth!”
Damn. As if getting a face full of burning candles on his birthday wasn’t bad enough, Hemsworth now has to put up with this mockery, and from the esteemed ruler of Wakanda, no less.
Thor’s ill-advised decision to strike the Mad Titan’s torso has come up in more than one discussion with Infinity War directors Anthony and Joe Russo, and the pair certainly aren’t letting the poor guy off the hook. An interview from earlier this year, for instance, saw Joe plead in defense of Peter Quill’s mistake, before changing the subject somewhat to criticize the son of Odin for his foolish pride.
“I would argue that the fan base could be equally upset with Thor, who chose to throw that ax into Thanos chest and not his head. He did so because he wanted to tell Thanos that he got his revenge.”
That being said, the filmmaker also went on to express his hope that such flaws in these characters will make them all the more engaging and identifiable.
“Had he gone for a kill shot, that snap would not have happened. These are choices that characters who are feeling immense pain make and hopefully, the audience can learn to empathize with those characters because they can grow through stories. Stories can teach us things and that we should try to see every choice from the perspective of the character that made the choice.”
Because of Thor’s choice, Avengers: Infinity War concluded with half of all life in the universe disintegrating. Needless to say, that’s a lot to have on your conscience, so you probably shouldn’t expect the God of Thunder to be in the chirpiest of moods when Avengers 4 continues the saga on May 3rd, 2019.