Chris Hemsworth thinks 'Thor: Love and Thunder' was a miss: 'I became a parody of myself'
Chris Hemsworth doesn't seem to have much love for the latest "Thor" film.
In a Vanity Fair profile published Tuesday, the "Furiosa" star, 40, said he feels he dropped the ball in 2022's "Thor: Love and Thunder," the fourth standalone movie about the Marvel superhero.
"I got caught up in the improv and the wackiness, and I became a parody of myself," he told the magazine. "I didn't stick the landing."
Directed by Taika Waititi, "Love and Thunder" received weaker reviews than the previous "Thor" film, "Thor: Ragnarok," which in 2017 reinvented the title character to be much more comedic. But with "Love and Thunder," many critics and fans felt that Waititi went too far in that direction, resulting in a tone that was overly silly. "Love and Thunder" ultimately grossed $760 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo, a decline from the $855 million grossed by "Ragnarok," but an increase from the first two "Thor" movies.
A fifth "Thor" has not been confirmed, although Vanity Fair wrote that Hemsworth feels he "owes the audience another" installment to make up for "Love and Thunder." The actor has previously said he wants to see the "Thor" series be reinvented once again should he return for another outing.
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"I don't know if I'm even invited back, but if I was, I think it would have to be a drastically different version," he said on the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast in 2022. "Tone, everything, just for my own sanity."
In November, Waititi told Business Insider that he "won't be involved" in the next "Thor."
A credits scene in "Love and Thunder" implied a fifth film would feature "Ted Lasso" star Brett Goldstein as Hercules. Hemsworth will also presumably return as Thor in two upcoming "Avengers" movies, though no casting for either film has been officially announced. Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo and Jeremy Renner are the only members of the original "Avengers" team who did not leave the franchise in 2019's "Avengers: Endgame."
Chris Hemsworth says reaction to Alzheimer's revelation 'pissed me off'
Other topics covered in the profile include Hemsworth's revelation, as part of the documentary series "Limitless," that he has a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer's disease. The news made headlines in 2022, but Hemsworth told Vanity Fair he feels this was taken out of context and conflated with his plans to take time off, making it sound like he was leaving Hollywood due to the health news.
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"It really kind of pissed me off because it felt like I had been vulnerable with something personal and shared this,” Hemsworth told Vanity Fair. "No matter how much I said 'This is not a death sentence,' the story became that I have dementia and I'm reconsidering life and retiring and so on."
The actor previously clarified to Entertainment Tonight that he was taking time off because "I've been working for 10 years, and I've got three kids that I want to spend more time with."
Chris Hemsworth reveals he named his son after Brad Pitt's 'Legends of the Fall' character
Speaking of Hemsworth's kids, the actor also revealed to Vanity Fair that he named his son Tristan after Brad Pitt's character in the 1994 movie "Legends of the Fall." He cited this as a film that he watched repeatedly when he was growing up.
"There's never been a more beautiful man onscreen," Hemsworth said of Pitt in the movie, going on to say that after watching it with his wife while she was pregnant, he told her, "Is this not the coolest character in the world? I think one of our kids needs to be named Tristan."
Hemsworth will next be seen as the villain in "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga," a prequel to "Mad Max: Fury Road." The film hits theaters on May 24.