With two Thor films, and just as many Avengers installments under his belt, Chris Hemsworth knows the Marvel Cinematic Universe inside and out. With that knowledge, the leading man in the kingdom of Asgard has formed some opinions on where the franchise should go in its latest entry, Thor: Ragnarok, and it’s something the MCU has found itself already incorporating into its universe: humor, and a good amount of it.
I was fortunate enough to speak with Hemsworth this past weekend, as part of his press duties on In The Heart Of The Sea, and the discussion wasn’t merely limited to the seafaring epic. And when you’ve got an audience with Chris Hemsworth, you’re obviously going to want to talk about the next adventure of the Norse badass. Being a fan of the MCU himself, the actor wants to take a page from a certain Phase 2 film that managed to make a mint off of action and laughs. As he told me:
I think [Thor 3] needs to be injected with that sort of smart wit and unexpected kind of humor, kind of what James Gunn came in and did with Guardians [Of The Galaxy]. It was like off center and unpredictable, and I think we can definitely use a dose of that, you know?
While Thor and Thor: The Dark World worked in some traces of humor, they were undoubtedly dour affairs, between the politicking and family squabbles that both films had encountered. Guardians Of The Galaxy, on the other hand, knew how to balance the emotion and action of the quest at hand with the various comedic quirks that characters like Rocket Raccoon and Drax The Destroyer were built around. When you make a violent, talking raccoon a figure that elicits emotion, everyone takes notice.
Of course, Thor: Ragnarok seems to already be heading in this direction, seeing as What We Do In The Shadows director Taika Waititi was tapped to helm the new installment in the franchise. With Chris Hemsworth being a fan of Waititi’s work since his 2010 film, Boy, Hemsworth is absolutely thrilled to finally be working with him, as you’ll see in his remarks about Waititi’s hiring below:
I feel we had less of the sort of the naivety or fun or humor that the first [Thor] might have had. I wish we had more of that in the second [movie] … We’ve done regal. We’ve done Shakespeare, and we’ve shown that. I think now it’s time to go, 'Ok, cool. Let’s try something different,' and Taika just had such a brilliant sort of take and funny kind of ideas about where we could [go], how we could do that.
For those of you who were afraid that Thor: Ragnarok would be more of the same, even Chris Hemsworth feels your pain, as he’s eager to venture into newer territory with his third solo outing. Considering how much the first two films experimented, but never really committed to humor, this is merely investing more in an approach that’s been toyed around with before. While we’re not expecting a "Casual Friday" Thor to show up in a Hawaiian shirt, ready to fight those who endanger Asgard, we’ll definitely expect the apocalyptic mayhem the title promises to be tempered with more of Hemsworth’s keen wit.
Thor: Ragnarok is slated for a November 3, 2017 release date; while you can see Chris Hemsworth brave the bold, blue sea in In The Heart Of The Sea on December 11th.
