HAMMER TIME
As Marvel’s God of Thunder returns for a fourth solo film, RACHAEL DAVIS chats to actor Chris Hemsworth, his co-stars and director about what is in store for Thor
WHEN you’re a superstrong, superhero Norse God with a whole team of friends to help you fight villains across the galaxy, it probably feels like not much could get in your way.
Unfortunately for Thor, Marvel’s powerful but hilariously juvenile God of Thunder, the latest instalment in his film series sees a dangerous galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher seek the extinction of all gods, slaughtering them in their droves.
With New Asgard on the list of targets and the root of Gorr’s vengeance unknown, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie, Korg and his ex-girlfriend Jane Foster – who turns up wielding his beloved hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty
Thor – to solve the mystery and save the gods.
Thor: Love And Thunder is the titular hero’s first solo film since 2017’s Ragnarok, and for Chris Hemsworth, going back to playing the character again has been like having fun with an old friend he’s grown with and changed alongside.
“There’s obviously a familiarity, but he has changed so dramatically over the years, as I have,” Chris, 38, says.
“Especially since Taika (Waititi) got involved,” he adds. “He brought out the immature, young, adolescent quality that I embody, and so does Thor now – which he didn’t in the original films.”
Taika Waititi, whose directing credits include Thor: Ragnarok, as well as What We Do In The Shadows and the Oscar-winning Jojo Rabbit, is once again at the helm for Thor: Love And Thunder.
“I think his personality and energy, and who he is, is the kind of person that I’d want to be on an adventure with,” Taika, 46, says of Chris.
“Someone who you can trust will be there to look after you, like a reallife hero. I wanted to tap into those qualities that he’s got, and make Thor more Chris.”
“That’s been the luxury, working with different directors and different casts, and that they all bring out something very different in you,” Chris adds.
“I feel like the character has probably become more me over the years in, I hope, a fun way.”
While Thor is a humorous soul who brings comic relief, Love And Thunder has plenty of real emotion – fear, tragedy, heartache, grief and love as well.
“I think that’s something that Taika has always done really, really well in his films,” says Tessa Thompson, 38, who plays King Valkyrie.
“And in this one, especially, I feel like he really was excited to lean into the emotion in a way that felt really rich for us, and really different than what we’ve seen –particularly with themes of love and relationships. That just felt really exciting.”
Gorr the God Butcher, for example, is a complex villain, a perfect example of Taika’s ability to present conflicting emotions amid the fun.
The film’s antagonist was once a peaceful, pious man, but his devotion to the gods turns to disdain after he suffers a crushing loss and is betrayed by the deities he once worshipped – transforming him into a god-slaughtering, vengeanceseeking monster.
“There’s a great pleasure in playing a villain,” says Gorr actor Christian Bale, 48, best known for playing serial killer Patrick Bateman in American Psycho and Batman in Christopher Nolan’s trilogy.
“It’s a lot easier to play a villain than it is to play a hero. Chris had a much tougher job.
“Everyone is fascinated with bad guys, immediately. And then the beauty of it is that Taika can make it hilarious and then really moving as well in this story.
The Oscar winner continues: “I don’t know if it’s pushing it too much to say sympathy, but certainly you understand maybe why this guy is making awful decisions. He is a monster and he is a butcher, but there’s possibly a little understanding of why he came to be that way.”
Fellow Academy Award winner Natalie Portman reprises her role of Dr Jane Foster, but this time with a crucial twist.
World-renowned astrophysicist (and Thor’s ex-girlfriend) Jane goes from scientist to superhero, joining the battle against Gorr as the Mighty Thor. However, this transformation masks a personal struggle. Behind the superhero costume Jane is dealing with some distinctly human issues.
Natalie, 41, says that the Mighty Thor is “completely different” to the original Thor, but that having the opportunity to explore a multifaceted female superhero was a fantastic challenge.
“I think he’s obviously very assured and experienced in being a superhero, and she’s just trying to figure it out,” says the Black Swan star. “I feel like getting this opportunity was such an incredible way to explore a female superhero that could be quite vulnerable and weak, and find strength in that, and be more like a human I could relate to personally.
“Also, it gave me renewed respect for what Chris has been doing for over a decade, [what] Tessa’s been doing, because I see how much work goes into it that I don’t think I was aware of when I was just the chick in the first one!” she laughs.
“I didn’t see everything that went on behind the scenes, when I got insight into all of the choreography and the training and everything. I was like, wow, this is a triple job of what I was doing back then.”
This combination of exciting new heroes, threatening but complex villains, emotion and hilarity results, Taika hopes, in a film that’s pure fun and a celebration of the return of cinema after a tough few years.
“It’s been a long journey and we’ve worked really, really hard to make something that audiences will love,” he says.
“And you know, after a couple of years of being stuck at home, or having to go through a lot of hardships, I think it’s really nice to be able to celebrate things like love and thunder, whatever that means in your life.
“But also just being able to go back to the movies and be able to just laugh and feel like a kid again.”
I feel like the character has probably become more me over the years Chris Hemsworth on Thor