The fourth Thor film from Marvel Studios, Thor: Love and Thunder, lands in theaters today.
The movie sees Chris Hemsworth‘s “space viking” going from “Dad bod to God bod,” shedding the pounds he was carrying in Avengers: Endgame and going on a journey of self-discovery.
Interrupting that is Christian Bale‘s Gorr the God Butcher, a formerly devout man whose god failed him, so he sets about slaying them all — including Thor.
Hemsworth recently admitted he was tiring of the character he’s portrayed onscreen since 2010 — until an infusion of fun came with writer-director Taika Waititi‘s 2017 Thor: Ragnarok. The movie made more than $854 million worldwide and reinvigorated the actor’s passion for the role.
“There was this sort of North Star, is about having fun…not getting bogged down in the serious sort of nature that we can when making films,” the actor said at a recent press event.
Hemsworth says of the director, “He loves it. He loves these stories. He loves these characters. He’s sitting there as a fan, would…telling you…what a fan would want to see…and everyone’s on board for it…”
Taika noted, “I’ve become friends with Chris. And I think just his personality and his energy and who he is the kind of person that I’d want to be on an adventure with,” adding, “I just want to tap into those qualities that he’s got and sort of make Thor more Chris, really.”
Thor: Love and Thunder implies we haven’t seen the last of the hero, about which Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige teases, “If we look at the comics as our guide, there are plenty of other incarnations of Thor that we’ve that we have yet to see.”
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