Whatever you think of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s clear that Marvel Studios caught lightning in the bottle in the early days of the franchise. From the likes of Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans, we got some iconic portrayals of some of the most popular characters in the history of comic books. While Chris Hemsworth’s role as Thor belongs on the same level as the rest of the Avengers, he admits that he often felt more replaceable than the others, though Avengers co-star Robert Downey Jr. strongly disagrees.
Hemsworth was recently profiled in Vanity Fair where the actor revealed that he feels he “didn’t stick the landing” in Thor: Love and Thunder. And while certainly that might not be the best Marvel movie, few would say the same thing about the actor’s previous performances as the god of thunder, except perhaps Hemsworth himself.
What Chris Hemsworth Said About Playing Thor
The Avengers was a massive undertaking full of stars playing big roles, but Chris Hemsworth felt like he was a lesser member of the superhero team. He says that he always felt the other actors got to do “cooler stuff” than he did, and he felt more like the team’s hired security and less like an Avenger. Hemsworth said…
Sometimes I felt like a security guard for the team. I would read everyone else’s lines, and go, Oh, they got way cooler stuff. They’re having more fun. What’s my character doing? It was always about, ‘You’ve got the wig on. You’ve got the muscles. You’ve got the costume. Where’s the lighting?’ Yeah, I’m part of this big thing, but I’m probably pretty replaceable.
It’s arguable that maybe Thor wasn’t highlighted in the early Avengers films the way others were. Iron Man and Captain America were the top-line names. At the same time, I don’t think anybody can fault what Hemsworth did with the screen time he had, and that includes Robert Downey Jr. himself.
How Robert Downey Jr. Responded To Hemsworth
Robert Downey Jr. may have gotten a lot of great lines in the Avengers movies, but the actor might agree that his job was simply easier than what Chris Hemsworth had to do. Downey says Thor was a tough role to get right, and even from the beginning, with the original Thor movie, Hemsworth and his director Kenneth Branagh found a way to bring the character to life that made the god relatable to mortals. Downey said…
First off, Thor as a character was super tricky to adapt – lots of implied limitations – but he and Ken Branagh figured out how to transcend, make him somehow relatable but godlike. Hemsworth is, in my opinion, the most complex psyche out of all us Avengers. He's got wit and gravitas, but also such restraint, fire and gentleness.
Downey calls Hemsworth’s work in Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame a “formidable hat trick” and I think most would certainly agree. If you watch the Marvel movies in order you can really see how Thor grows throughout the franchise. Overall Chris Hemsworth has been a key piece of the MCU, and with four solo films has become as important a part of it as anybody else.
While it's unclear at this point if we'll see Thor again in any upcoming Marvel movies, Hemsworth has certainly proved his worth in the franchise.
