Chris Hemsworth feels like he’s playing a new character in Thor: Ragnarok

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Although the previous two THOR movies certainly had their moments, they never came across as top-tier Marvel flicks, and the God of Thunder certainly deserved better. When the time came for another installment of the THOR franchise, Chris Hemsworth knew that something needed to be done differently, especially as he has admitted that he had grown "bored of myself as that character." The actor told Flicks and the City that he reached out to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige about the much-needed shakeup.

I think the objective from even years before we'd written the script was to change this film up in some way. It all started to feel a little bit familiar and predictable, and I called Kevin Feige and said we've got to do something different here. He agreed and was incredibly receptive and then we had Taika [Waititi] come on board who had the same attitude. It was about changing the aesthetic, the look, the hair, the hammer, the costume, everything, the world that we're a part of. The universe, the music, everything.

Chris Hemsworth added that those changes "felt like a clean slate," and that starting over again made it feel as though he was "playing a new character in a way, which was hugely freeing and invigorating." Compared to the character we were introduced to in the first THOR movie, Hemsworth's portrayal of Thor in THOR: RAGNAROK really does feel like a new individual. "I think there's a vulnerability to him and accessibility to him that wasn't there prior," said Hemsworth. "The first time I played the character was about playing a god and being sort of ethereal and godlike, and speaking a certain way and moving a certain way. But the problem with that is then … it's good for one film and then you sort of hit a ceiling and you have nowhere to go. So this film was about kind of stripping that back and having a greater access to that vulnerability and relatability. He's one of us. He has his own problems. He has the same insecurities we all might have. The same oncerns and fears or whatever."

The first reviews for the upcoming film have certainly been quite positive, with many praising THOR: RAGNAROK as Marvel's most outrageously entertaining film to date, and although the lighter tone may not be everyone's cup of tea, I'm excited to see what this all-new Thor will bring.

The official synopsis for THOR: RAGNAROK:

In Marvel Studios’ ‘Thor: Ragnarok’, Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok—the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization—at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger—the Incredible Hulk!

THOR: RAGNAROK will hit theaters on November 3, 2017.