Starring in his fourth solo film with Thor: Love And Thunder, Chris Hemsworth has accomplished something that no other Marvel Cinematic Universe star has done. Audiences have said goodbye to Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man (who died in Avengers: Endgame) and Chris Evans' Captain America (who time traveled to be with Peggy Carter), but the God of Thunder remains a staple in the canon.
It does make you wonder, though: how much time do we have left with Chris Hemsworth's Thor? Is his time in the MCU drawing to an end? It depends on who you ask – but both the actor and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige seem confident that there will be more cinematic stories for the Strongest Avenger following the release of Thor: Love And Thunder, provided the material remains fresh.
Chris Hemsworth recently participated in one of Wired's Autocomplete Interviews, and he spoke to the potential end of his run in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the prompt "What is Chris Hemsworth's last Marvel movie?" On a literal level he explained that the last film he shot for the comic book film franchise was Thor: Love And Thunder, and offered up a big question mark in regards to whether or not we'll get to see more of Thor in 2023 and beyond:
Well the last [Marvel movie] I shot was Thor: Love and Thunder, and it might be my last Marvel movie, I don't know. It was a wild and fun and wacky experience, as all Taika Waititi movies are. Played that character for ten, eleven, years now, and each time it's been new and exciting, and this was no exception to that. It felt very fresh and it felt like we were trying something we hadn't tried before. I was, in Taika's words, I think a wacky, wild, romantic comedy set in space.
The same subject about Chris Hemsworth's future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was recently broached by Total Film during an interview with Kevin Feige. As you would expect from Feige (who is a black belt when it comes to hiding secrets and noncommittal statements), the executive didn't mention anything about Hemsworth's contract, and he didn't specifically tease any upcoming projects.
What he did do, however, is note that Thor is a character who has been appearing in the pages of Marvel Comics for decades, and there is still a lot of popular material from those books that has not yet been translated on to the big screen. Kevin Feige explained,
I know this: there are many, many other Thor stories in the comics that we talk about a lot. And as we watch Chris Hemsworth continue to grow and evolve as a major acting talent, I would be excited to see how he keeps evolving this complex character.
For what it's worth, it does sound like the right material would get Chris Hemsworth to play Thor again in a heartbeat after making Thor: Love And Thunder. He has no interest in retreading territory that has already been explored with the character, and he is always looking for a new direction – and if a take comes along that satisfies those requirements, he will be into it. At the same time, he's also not looking to play the role until somebody screams, "Get the hook!" Hemsworth told Total Film,
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. But I love playing the character, I really do. 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...' I'd like to exit before people tell me to exit.
A lot of Thor's future will depend on where the character can be taken following the end of his latest adventure, and audiences everywhere will be able to experience the character's journey in just a few days. Thor: Love And Thunder, co-starring Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Christian Bale, and Russell Crowe, arrives in theaters this Friday, July 8, and tickets are now on sale.
To learn about all of the developing Marvel Cinematic Universe projects and start theorizing about where Thor could show up next, check out our Upcoming Marvel Movies and Upcoming Marvel TV guides –and get a Disney+ subscription to enjoy all of the God of Thunder's past big screen adventures.
