Washington (US): 'Thor: Love and Thunder' was a box office success, grossing USD760 million worldwide, but writer-director Taika Waititi's silly humour and the film's unappealing visual effects turned off many Marvel fans. Chris Hemsworth, the actor who plays Thor, is aware of the backlash surrounding his fourth Thor film, and he even admitted that 'Love and Thunder' was "too silly" for its own good, as per Variety.
Hemsworth said about the movie, "I think we just had too much fun. It just became too silly. It's always hard being in the center of it and having any real perspective...I love the process, it's always a ride. But you just don't know how people are going to respond." Hemsworth said his biggest critics were his son's friends. "It's a bunch of eight-year-olds critiquing my film. 'We thought this one had too much humor, the action was cool but the VFX wasn't as good'. I cringe and laugh equally at it."
Hemsworth has appeared in eight Marvel films, and just because 'Thor: Love and Thunder' was too silly, that doesn't mean he won't do more. The actor is not currently contracted for any additional Marvel films. He really wants to do some other stuff for a while, but he'll return if the opportunity is creatively rich.
Hemsworth said, "I love the experience. I love the fact that I've been able to do something fairly different throughout the process. Thor 1 and 2 were their own thing, Thor 3 and 4 were a very different feel...and then even Avengers, the Lebowski Thor, the Infinity War Thor, due to different directors and I think mostly my own need to do something different."
Marvel has had a rocky recent track record. While 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' was a box office success and earned Angela Bassett an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress, 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' received some of the worst reviews of the MCU and flopped at the box office with USD476 million. That figure is especially troubling given that Quantumania marked the start of the MCU's next phase and the introduction of its Thanos-sized new villain, Kang the Conqueror.
Also read: Chris Hemsworth is 'definitely not' saying goodbye to Marvel after Thor: Love and Thunder
Hemsworth told, "Wakanda Forever was really cool. He didn't see Quantumania, but he saw enough of the marketing to wonder why Marvel turned the relatively small Ant-Man franchise into a huge space epic. That's the trick: you have to separate all those stories. The moment it's like: 'Your world is in danger, the entire universe!' It's like, 'Yeah, so it was the last 24 films.' It has to become a bit more personal and grounded."
According to Variety, Hemsworth also addressed Marvel's detractors, including Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino. Scorsese has criticized Marvel for negatively impacting exhibitions, and Tarantino stated in November that Marvel is incapable of producing movie stars.
Tarantino said on the '2 Bears, 1 Cave' podcast. "Part of the Marvel-ization of Hollywood is...you have all these actors who have become famous playing these characters. But they're not movie stars. Right? Captain America is the star. Or Thor is the star. I mean, I'm not the first person to say that. I think that's been said a zillion times...but it's like, you know, it's these franchise characters that become a star." He added, "That's super depressing when I hear that. There goes two of my heroes I won't work with. I guess they're not a fan of me."
Hemsworth added, "I'm thankful that I was a part of something that kept people in theatres." I'm not sure whether or not those films were detrimental to other films. I don't like it when we start judging each other when there's already so much fragility in the business and in this space of the arts...I say this less to the directors who made those remarks, all of whom are still my heroes, and I would work with any of them in a heartbeat. But I'm referring to the broader public opinion on the subject. I don't believe any of us have the answer, but we're working on it." Hemsworth will next be seen in Extraction 2, which will be released on Netflix on June 16. (ANI)
