Thor actor Chris Hemsworth might have looked great in the most recent movie, but he’s recently made a startling admission about his physique.
Hemsworth, who reprised his role as the God of Thunder for Thor: Love and Thunder, had to bulk up above and beyond his usual physique for the film, with a higher target weight than ever before. He admitted that whilst it was once relatively easy, this time was significantly harder.
“Each time I’ve played the character and put the muscle on and out the size on, and then lost it for something else and played another character, there’s muscle memory, and I used to say it sort of got easier each time,” he said.
“This (time) was particularly hard. I think because the target weight we aimed for was quite a ways above where I’d been before. It was a really fun exploration, but I don’t know that I wanna get that big again; it was just exhausting. I don’t know, maybe I’m getting old, but things just started to hurt more.”
Hemsworth, who will star in another Thor movie as teased at the end of Love and Thunder, has become almost synonymous with the Norse God. As part of the Marvel Universe, he expects to have significant exposure, but the character of Thor brings extra pressure. That isn’t only the God-like physique he is expected to achieve but also the expectation placed upon him for playing such a well-known pop culture figure.
Thor is not only found in Marvel Universe but is a popular character from across culture. He can be found in films starring Hemsworth, but other depictions can be found in video games. For instance, he is a playable character in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, described by Indian Wire as the best-selling game of the franchise. On mobile, the Gala Spins Megaways slots have a game, Power of Thor Megaways, which doesn’t feature Hemsworth but does push the Thor themes and character. On iOS and Android, you can find Thor: The Dark World, another game featuring the Norse God. All these games demonstrate that the character is significantly bigger than a single actor. However, like Christian Bale and Batman, or Heath Ledger and Joker, Hemsworth is becoming an actor defined by a hugely popular character.
That places a substantial emphasis on his workout regime and body shape every time he steps onto the screen, which is why the revelations around his bulking up are surprising. What does it mean for the character if he isn’t willing to build the mass we all saw in Love and Thunder? We’ve already seen ‘Fat’ Thor in Endgame, a body change made necessary by the story, but would the writers be willing to accommodate Hemsworth’s unwillingness to bulk up in the storyline of the fifth standalone title?
Whatever happens, one thing is for certain; Chris Hemsworth is now commonly identified as Thor, which gives him a certain amount of bargaining power when it comes to a new film. His muscles don’t define the character, but his face does, and that alone could give him the leverage he needs for a slightly toned-down Thor in the next movie. Marvel bosses could not justify pushing another Thor on the world after four films featuring the Australian actor.
It will be a while coming, but Thor V could be the most interesting, given these recent revelations.
