Although it hasn’t quite been a full year since Thor: Love and Thunder was released to the public, but at this stage, Chris Hemsworth’s potential future as Thor Odinson still hasn’t been ironed out. In November 2022, the actor said his version of the God of Thunder was likely heading towards a finale, and in May, he seemingly cast doubt on his Marvel future while talking about Extraction 2. But now Hemsworth has clarified that he is still game to reprise Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it comes with a big condition.
During his interview with EW for Extraction 2, which will be available to watch with a Netflix subscription starting tomorrow, June 16, Hemsworth was asked whether he has any plans to play Thor again. He started off by saying that he has “no idea what's happening in the next phase,” so he’s in the dark on the character’s future “officially.” That said, he is still game for more time as Thor, but only so long as audiences are still interested in that and he’s allowed to continue experimenting with “style and genre.” In his words:
I don't want to continue to do it until people are so exhausted that they roll their eyes when they see me come on the screen as that character. If an audience wants to see it, and if there's something that we believe is exciting and fun, then great. I've loved being able to reinvent that character a few times. I don't have the answer yet, but I would love to try and [figure out] how we can do that again and keep it a little unpredictable.
Chris Hemsworth has eight Thor appearances under his belt (not counting his cameo in the Doctor Strange mid-credits scene or the Team Thor shorts), but that reinvention he references really started to kick off with 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok, which provided more comedic opportunities for the character, while still retaining a compelling personal arc. Then Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame took the character in a darker direction, and Thor: Love and Thunder returned him to more humorous territory, though Hemsworth caught flak from his kids about that. The point being, he never wants things to get stale with Thor, som provided that experimentation can continue, he’s all for more action in the MCU.
Thor: Love and Thunder’s ending saw the title character, who shared God of Thunder duties with Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster in the story, becoming a father figure to the late Gorr’s daughter, Love, played by Hemsworth’s own daughter India. So while we could easily reunite with Thor in one of the upcoming Marvel movies, there’s also a scenario where the last we see of the God of Thunder is him and Love jumping into battle on that alien planet. Still, I’m thinking the former is more likely than the latter for now, whether Thor 5 gets greenlit or he’s simply present for the events of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and/or Avengers: Secret Wars.
While we wait for an update either way, revisit Chris Hemsworth’s previous outings as Thor by going through the Marvel movies in order with a Disney+ subscription. Along with Extraction 2 about to arrive, Hemsworth will also star in the 2024 movies Furiosa and Transformers One.
