In the early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, fans were so hardcore that they knew how many films each major star had on their contract and would count down until they no longer had any more pictures left in their deal. Chris Evans’ had a multi-picture deal that culminated in Avengers: Endgame, among others, but Marvel head Kevin Feige has confirmed within the last year that they no longer have these extensive talent deals and instead operate from a place of “Are you free? Come and play in the MCU again.” Lucky for him and the Marvel audience, Thor star Chris Hemsworht is game to keep coming back after Love and Thunder.
Speaking with The AP about the upcoming sequel, Hemsworth was asked if he would consider returning once again to the role of the god of thunder and his enthusiasm was unbridled. “I love the experience, and I have from day one,” the actor said. “Each time I’ve been asked back I’ve said ‘Absolutely let’s go.’ I’ve been lucky to have different directors and writers and cast to also inject different stories and energy into the films. Until the audience, the fans, the Marvel gods say, ‘No, we’ve had enough’ then I’ll keep showing up, I love it. It’s good fun.”
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This seems like a pretty big shift in tone from what Hemsworth thought his status in the Marvel Cinematic Universe would be while filming the first movie as the character. Speaking with Australia’s TODAY, the actor reflected on working with Natalie Portman in the first movie and now once again on the fourth film with the character.
“It was a lot of nostalgia in [Thor: Love and Thunder] for me, as it was with the last Avengers film. Ten, eleven years I’ve been doing it. The first time I played Thor was opposite Natalie Portman, and it was one of my first jobs, and I kept thinking I was going to get fired, or nothing was gonna work, or fans weren’t going to accept my version of the character,” Hemsworth said. “And if she thought I was any good, or I deserved to be there, or what have you.”
Thor: Love and Thunder hits theaters next Friday, July 8. The film marks his ninth appearance as the Norse god of Thunder, having made his debut in 2011’s Thor, reprising the part in The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infintiy War, and Avengers: Endgame.
