Audiences worldwide have gotten to recognize Chris Hemsworth as a big screen hero. It all started with his breakout role in the opening act of 2009's Star Trek, where he valiantly sacrifices himself to save his starship's crew, and ever since then we have seen him star as characters who saves the day – from his epic run as Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, to his turn as Tyler Rake in the Netflix action feature Extraction.
That, however, won't be the case in George Miller's upcoming Furiosa – the prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road (one of the best action movies of all time). Rather than once again being one of the good guys, Chris Hemsworth will be playing the central villain in the upcoming feature.
This excellent revelation comes to us from Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road by Kyle Buchanan, the new book about the making of the 2015 blockbuster. According to SlashFilm, producer/first assistant director P. J. Voeten is quoted talking about Furiosa, and while talking about the part played by Chris Hemsworth he revealed that the role is of an antagonist nature in the plot:
George [Miller] saw Chris [Hemsworth] initially as a courtesy and then fell in love with the idea. He's going to play totally against type, the lead baddie. Unfortunately, we've got to find all of our other characters that aren't around anymore: a new Immortan, a new Bullet Farmer, and a few others.
I have to admit that I am a bit disappointed that Chris Hemsworth isn't going to be playing the younger version of the utterly terrifying Immortan Joe in Furiosa, but it does make sense when you think about circumstances logically. In 2015, Mad Max: Fury Road's Charlie Theron was about 15 years older than Furiosa star Anya Taylor-Joy is now. As such, the actor playing a younger Immortan Joe should be approximately a decade-and-a-half younger than Hugh Keays-Byrne was. At 38 years old, Hemsworth is 20 years too young for the part (though I would argue that a lot of great things could be done with special effects make-up).
So if he's not playing a young Immortan, what kind of villain can we expect Chris Hemsworth to play in Furiosa? That's a great question with no obvious answer. The Australian hero played a suave and sexy killer in Drew Goddard's Bad Times At The El Royale, so that's certainly on the table – but I would personally love to see him play a raving, sadistic psychotic.
Said to feature a more typical three act structure than being the constant chase that Mad Max: Fury Road was, Furiosa is slowly gearing up to start production, and in addition to Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth, the film is also set to star Tom Burke. Warner Bros. has scheduled the film to arrive in theaters on May 24, 2024, and while that's still quite a while away, our anticipation for the project is already at extreme levels.
