It goes without saying that playing Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe not only catapulted Chris Hemsworth to worldwide fame, but also opened the door to more opportunities. One of those was playing Eric the Huntsman in 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman, a role he reprised four years later in the prequel/sequel The Huntsman: Winter’s War.
While Snow White and the Huntsman earned a mixed critical reception, The Huntsman: Winter’s War was met with mostly negative reviews, and looking back on it, Chris Hemsworth acknowledges that the latter movie had trouble finding its footing tonally. The actor explained:
I don’t think we ever landed on the point of the film. I thought we wanted to make a not-as-dark version. I felt like I was in a different movie. I was doing one thing, and there were these quite dramatic performances, which were brilliant.
So where Chris Hemsworth was under the impression that The Huntsman: Winter’s War would be a more lighthearted tale compared to Snow White and the Huntsman, evidently no one else got that memo, with the other performances being on the serious side. And while Hemsworth clearly approved of what his costars were doing, it resulted in him feeling like he was acting in something different.
It’s hard to tell from Chris Hemsworth’s comment to Variety how he felt about his time filming The Huntsman: Winter’s War as a whole, but it sounds like he’s disappointed with how it all turned out. The Huntsman was certainly more of an unconventional follow-up to Snow White and the Huntsman, because instead of bringing back Kristen Stewart as Snow White, Emily Blunt and Jessica Chastain as the female leads alongside Charlize Theron reprising Queen Ravena.
Although The Huntsman: Winter’s War’s cast was solid overall, the final product was not a hit with fans and critics, ranking at a measly 18% on Rotten Tomatoes and making only $165 million worldwide off a $115 million budget. With that kind of critical and commercial performance, it’s no wonder a third Huntsman movie never got the green light.
Fortunately for Chris Hemsworth, his time as The Huntsman won’t be what he’s best remembered for. Along with his nearly-decade-long run as Thor, who he recently reprised in Avengers: Endgame and is game to play again in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, he’s also appeared in movies like In the Heart of the Sea, Ghostbusters, 12 Strong and Bad Times at the El Royale, and his career shows no signs of dying down, though he will be taking a break from Hollywood for the rest of the year.
You can see Chris Hemsworth on the big screen next playing Agent H in Men in Black International, which hits theaters on Friday. If you’re curious about what other movies are coming out this year, look through our 2019 release schedule.
