Chris Hemsworth Was Terrified That Marvel Was Going to Fire Him While Filming ‘Thor’
Thor is one of the original superheroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and after 11 years, his tenure continues despite the retirement of a few of his Avenger pals. Chris Hemsworth will be the first Marvel actor to get to a fourth solo film with Thor: Love and Thunder. But the actor revealed that he wasn’t always confident in his ability to play the God of Thunder.
Chris Hemsworth has played Thor in the MCU since 2011
The MCU introduced Chris Hemsworth as Thor to the world in 2011 when Thor premiered in theaters. And since then, he has appeared in seven other films as the Asgardian — The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Thor: Love and Thunder.
Thor was one of the original six Avengers, alongside Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye. They first assembled after Thor’s brother Loki invaded Earth and have teamed up numerous times in the years that followed.
After Thanos’ snap, Thor fell into a deep depression, and the hope that they could save everyone they lost five years later is the only thing that brought him out of it. The God of Thunder was one of the many who saved the world, and now he’s on a journey of self-discovery.
Chris Hemsworth stated that he would play Thor as long as possible. However, he questioned his superhero acting abilities early in his Marvel career.
The actor had doubts about the longevity of his Marvel career
Chris Hemsworth appeared on Australia’s TODAY to discuss Thor: Love and Thunder. And during the interview, the actor reflected on his time in the MCU.
“It was a lot of nostalgia in [Thor: Love and Thunder] for me, as it was with the last Avengers film,” Hemsworth said. “Ten, 11 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. And if she thought I was any good, or I deserved to be there, or what have you.”
It’s safe to say that not only did Portman, who plays Jane Foster, think he excelled at playing Thor, but fans believed so as well. Hemsworth went on to explain Thor and Jane’s new relationship in the fourth Thor movie.
“So 10 years later to reunite — both of us, our lives have dramatically changed in many ways,” the actor shared. “Also, the characters have changed. I think Thor is in a very different place to where he was in the first film, and now we see Jane Foster come in, and has a whole bunch of superpowers and is a superhero herself. It made for some fun on-camera dynamics there.”
Thankfully, Marvel did not fire Chris Hemsworth, and 11 years later, fans still get to see him as Thor in the MCU.
When will Chris Hemsworth retire from playing Thor?
Thor: Love and Thunder is Chris Hemsworth’s eighth MCU film, so it’s natural to wonder when his Marvel career will end. But the actor doesn’t have a confident answer right now.
“Each time, if the opportunity comes up and presents itself, I’m just open to whatever creative exploration can happen, thanks to different writers and directors and so on,” Hemsworth told Total Film.
“But I love playing the character. I really do,” he explained. “It always comes down to: ‘Is this script different to the last one? Are we repeating something?’ And when it becomes too familiar, I think that’s when I’d have to say, ‘Yeah, no, this doesn’t … I think I’ve … [Laughs] I’d like to exit before people tell me to exit.”
Thor: Love and Thunder is now playing in theaters.
