With February now gone, Thor: Love and Thunder is under a year away. The film set to release in February 2022 will make Thor the first Avenger to star in four solo films and will see the god team-up with the Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as Jane Foster's Mighty Thor.
As many of the original Phase One heroes departed the MCU with Avengers: Endgame, Thor is one of the last original characters standing. After the success of Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Endgame, the pressure is high for Chris Hemsworth and company to match the success of past films, something the Australian star is clearly feeling based on his recent comments.
HEMSWORTH DESCRIBES THE PRESSURE OF THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER
In a recent sit down with GQ, Thor actor Chris Hemsworth said the pressure for Thor: Love and Thunder is the “same — if not more” than usual for the sequel to match the success of the previous Thor films:
“There’s that same — if not more — pressure now to do that again. So there’s a little bit of exciting nervous energy that is motivating all of us to reach a little further and make sure we’re covering all bases and approaching the scene from every angle.”
The Avenger went on to explain his desire to find “new challenges” and take on projects that he's “going to learn from,” as those that feel “too familiar or too comfortable” often lead to his “interest not being piqued”:
“It’s all about looking for new challenges, you know? I’ve been working for 15 years now and there was a period when anything and everything was new and exciting, and the hardest thing was saying ‘no’ because you wanted to keep working. Now you want to deepen the approach and think ‘does this feel familiar, is this unique territory for me, have I played this character before, who’s the director, who’s the cast, is this a collaboration that I feel I’m going to learn from?’ Any time it feels too familiar or too comfortable, I find my interest not being piqued.”
It seems the actor likes to stay out of his comfort zone with his roles, something that has happened in the past when he “didn’t have fear or anxiety as a motivator to dig a little deeper into the script.” Hemsworth says that he enjoys “looking for projects that scare the hell out of me [him]” and “things that force you to expand and evolve, work harder, learn more.”
THE TEN-YEAR EVOLUTION OF THOR
Thor debuted in a fish out of water story, but has since been on adventures through the nine-realms, explored the galaxy in a comedic epic, and joined the Avengers to team-up on four occasions. Overall, five directors have had a major influence on the character over the years, meaning Hemsworth has truly been treated to the variety he clearly loves.
The actor is coming off the most successful film in his series so far with Thor: Ragnarok, before going on to star in the record-breaking Avengers: Endgame. So it makes a lot of sense why the pressure to match the extreme success of past Marvel films would be the highest yet.
Additionally, Thor will be the first Marvel hero to see a fourth solo installment with every other character having cut off their story after a trilogy. After many controversial films, Taika Waititi finally found a new way to handle the character in his 2017 film, making the fourth installment a no-brainer to explore this new take further.
Thor: Love and Thunder will hit theaters on February 18, 2022, and will see the Avenger star alongside Jane Foster, and the Guardians of the Galaxy.
