Who is Chris Hemsworth playing in ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga?’

Let’s get it out the way from the off — yes, that guy in the image above is Chris Hemsworth.

He may be best known worldwide as Marvel’s Thor, but the Australian actor has always been keen to stretch outside of his comfort zone and the audience’s image of him as a hunky action-hero. I mean, he’s happy to give the people what they want too, in the likes of Netflix’s Extraction, but at the same time, the most famous Hemsworth (apologies, Luke and Liam) likes to shake it up a little. See his comedic turn in Ghostbusters: Answer the Call or portrayal of a creepy cult leader in Bad Times at the El Royale.

But folks are really shocked by Hemsworth’s role in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, the long-awaited prequel to 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road starring Anya Taylor-Joy as the titular anti-heroine, previously played by Charlize Theron. Hemsworth is co-leading the film, but how does he fit into it?

Chris Hemsworth is unrecognizable in Furiosa in a rare villain role

When we got our first glimpse at Hemsworth in the film in the Furiosa trailer, many did a double-take as Hemsworth has clearly decided to distance himself from his character this time around by wearing a prosthetic to hide his familiar features. Specifically, the Thor: Love and Thunder star dons a fake nose for the part. This is probably for the best as his role in Furiosa is so different from his beloved turn as MCU hero Thor.

Hemsworth is playing the villain of the movie, known as Warlord Dementus. According to the synopsis, Furiosa follows Taylor-Joy’s heroine as she is “snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel presided over by The Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants work for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.”

As is clear from the trailer, although Dementus is an unsavory individual, he and Furiosa seem to strike up some kind of camaraderie. Hemsworth teased the differences sides of his character, while summing up what makes Dementus tick to Variety:

“He’s a complicated individual. He’s a very violent, insane, brutal person who is born in the Wasteland, which is the world the Mad Max saga takes place. He’s a product of his environment, he has been birthed into a space where it’s kill or be killed. He’s learned to rule with an iron fist. There’s a charisma to him and he’s a very manipulative charisma.”

Although Hemsworth clearly embraced this unusual role with gusto, describing working on the film as “the most incredible experience” of his career, director George Miller initially took some convincing to hire him. In the book Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road (via Slash Film), producer PJ Voeten recalled how the star only got a meeting with the filmmaker as a “courtesy” before Miller “fell in love with the idea” of this “totally against type” casting.

Let’s hope audiences do too when Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga crashes into theaters on May 24, 2024.