While Chris Hemsworth is currently playing up a totally different cinematic lineage within the 2024 movie release schedule, the Marvel Cinematic Universe still holds a place in the Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga star's heart and mind. He'll always get recognition as the MCU’s Thor, but there are some parts of that run that even Hemsworth wasn’t totally happy with. One of which happens to be his overall performance in 2022's Thor: Love and Thunder; a sequel that, in his own words, saw him fail to “stick the landing.”
The Australian superstar spoke with Vanity Fair to promote his new apocalyptic heel turn for George Miller, and the shadows of his Marvel past started to creep up after co-star Robert Downey Jr. came up. Specifically, RDJ was noted as having complimented Chris Hemsworth on the “formidable hat trick” of Thor: Ragnarok, as well as the two-part epic Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, which sparked the latter to lobby the following criticism against his own work in Thor 4:
I got caught up in the improv and the wackiness, and I became a parody of myself. I didn’t stick the landing.
Those feelings pretty much line up with previous Thor: Love and Thunder criticisms from Hemsworth’s family and friends, as well as others. So it’s not like he’s opening any fresh wounds on the matter, but rather reinforcing that he's not out there spending his time and energy defending his work. Think of it as the Chris Hemsworth version of George Clooney’s periodic Batman & Robin roasts, albeit with less rubber nipple talk.
It’s a lighthearted admission that something went wrong, with the firm reassurance that even he understands it. What possibly makes Hemsworth’s remarks all the more interesting is that not everyone would agree with that assessment. Even our own Eric Eisenberg’s Thor: Love and Thunder review praised the break from tradition that director Taika Waititi’s second MCU outing brought for the son of Odin.
So while Clooney bagging on Batman & Robin might be a case where much of the public uniformly agrees, Chris Hemsworth may be seen as giving himself too much trouble when it comes to criticising Thor: Love and Thunder. At the same time, redemption may not be too far off.
We know that the actor will be popping up in at least one upcoming Marvel movie, via aDeadpool & Wolverine cameo, so the ride’s not over for this Norse god yet. Where exactly the Marvel future will take him is still undefined, but you can bet that when the time comes for Chris Hemsworth to wield Mjolnir once more, he’ll be carrying the lessons of Thor: Love and Thunder along with it.
Deadpool & Wolverine will slash its way into theaters on July 26th, swear words and all. But if you want to revisit Chris Hemsworth’s tenure as Thor, you can catch that full run with convenient access to a Disney+ subscription. Or, if you’re ready for a more villainous Hemsworth menacing the wastelands of the apocalypse, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga will start raging on in front of audiences, starting May 24th.
