For a while, it seemed as though Marvel wasn't entirely sure what to do with Chris Hemsworth's Thor following his 2011 introduction. While had many stand out moments in The Avengers, the character's subsequent appearances in both Thor: The Dark World and Avengers: Age of Ultron left a lot to be desired.
Enter What We Do in the Shadows director Taika Waititi, who rebranded the Thor franchise with last year's Thor: Ragnarok as a colorful "Jack Kirby meets Flash Gordon" sci-fi comedy romp that saw the biggest box office receipts the Asgardian has received to date and a 92/87% split on RottenTomatoes.
Much of the film's praise came in response to its unique sense of humor and the utilization of Chris Hemsworth's great comic timing and delivery. In a new interview with Esquire Hemsworth spoke about his previous comedic work, most notably in Paul Feig's all-female Ghostbusters reboot which introduced him to the world of improvisation.
That was some of the most fun I’ve ever had on set, and probably my real jumping-in point to improvisation. Prior to that, I’d always wanted to be very confident in the fact that I knew exactly what was on the page, and I had my options worked out and I knew where the scene was going to go. Playing it safe, to a degree. And we just threw all that out the window in that film, and it really opened up a whole other side to my sort of process, I think.
It was a process that came in handy for the star in the Taika Waititi helmed threequel, as according to the director himself around 80% of the film's final dialogue was improvised. Hemsworth continued to credit, among other things his work with Ghostbusters director Feig for preparing him for the film.
It does happen on the Marvel sets. From Thor 3, definitely, it became hugely improvised. And I’m so glad I’ve been able to work with Paul prior to that. And I’ve done Saturday Night Live a couple of times; I have a movie called Vacation. So by the time I got to Thor 3, I was incredibly enthusiastic to do it. Taika Waititi, the director, had the same opinion. And we carried that into Avengers.
It's unclear what's next for Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but with Hemsworth seemingly more than happy to stay in the role and Marvel eager to recapture the success of Thor: Ragnarok don't rule out a future Hemsworth and Waititi re-team in the future.
What do you think? Have you been a fan of this new approach to Thor? Would you like to see Chris Hemsworth do more comedy? Leave your thoughts below.