This is three years after Marvel came out with their superhero movie Iron Man 1 (2008) starring Robert Downey Jr, and one year later, Marvel released its sequel Iron Man 2 (2010). Marvel decided to green-light their precarious venture of making a feature movie about a literal god Thor at a time when superheroes were not as celebrated as they are today.
The Beginning of Thor: 2011
A lot of directors’ names came up, like Sam Raimi (Spiderman Trilogy), Matthew Vaughn (X-Men First Class, Kingsman series), and even Guillermo del Toro (who left to make The Hobbit movie which also didn’t happen). In the end, Kenneth Branagh finally sat on the Director’s chair.
Now came the immense task of casting the titular character. Marvel offered it to Daniel Craig first, but he rejected the role. Next, Tom Hiddleston also auditioned, but Marvel eventually selected him to play Thor’s brother Loki. Finally, two Hemsworths auditioned for the position, and Marvel rejected one of them.
Guess who!
Yes, Marvel initially rejected Chris Hemsworth after he read the part. But thanks to his agent, Marvel called him again for reading, and eventually, he got the part. Natalie Portman, who was on the verge of doing her Black Swan movie, was also roped in by Marvel.
When Marvel first announced the movie and its cast, comic book fans scoffed at the decision of casting not-so-popular Hemsworth and Hiddleston as titular characters, and there was a backlash. However, the movie hit theaters at the end of April and got terrific reviews. It improved over The Incredible Hulk’s box office opening and went on to collect $449 million worldwide.
The first MCU character to get 4 solo films!#Thor #ThortheDarkWorld #ThorRagnarok #ThorLoveandThunder pic.twitter.com/K9I6IJexrk
— Marvel Multiverse (@MarvelMultive) May 15, 2022
Cut to 2022
Marvel released the fourth movie of Thor just a few weeks back in July to garner a box office collection of $148 million worldwide on just the first day! Chris Hemsworth’s Thor Love and Thunder have satisfied the fans and have got the consensus to be a funny film that promises to give a wacky experience.
However, the news is going around that Thor Love and Thunder is the last Marvel movie Chris Hemsworth is playing as Thor. While we bid him goodbye, let’s go through the journey of Chris Hemsworth as Thor throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
From Dad Bod to God Bod. Go behind-the-scenes to witness Chris Hemsworth transform into Thor with exclusive bonus extras, only available when you get Marvel Studios' #ThorLoveAndThunder on Blu-ray & Digital now. https://t.co/8jr7HIredg pic.twitter.com/DLNVh0OqhI
— Thor (@thorofficial) October 4, 2022
The Journey from Asgard to Earth and All the Places in Between
Thor (2011)
- Director: Kenneth Branagh
- Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba
- IMDB Rating: 7/10
- Where to watch: Disney plus
This movie marked the entrance of the Norse god Thor Odinson into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and subsequently into the Avengers. Sam Raimi of the spiderman Trilogy fame was the first to develop the concept of this film in 1991, but the movie did not materialize.
About Thor
In the movie, the father of Thor and the king of Asgard, All-Father Odin, is at war with Laufey and his army of Frost Giants of Jotunheim. Odin, along with his Asgardian army, kills Laufey and adopts his infant son Loki.
Thor has a love-hate sibling relationship with Loki, which became a hit with the audience and is explored more in the later films. Idris Elba plays Thor’s best friend Heimdall, who is the gatekeeper of the Bifrost.
This marvel movie gives us a bit of romance between Hemsworth and Natalie Portman as Dr. Jane Foster. Foster and her mentor Eric Selvig are astrophysicists who discover that Thor came from a different planet. Loki plays the role of the anti-hero and double-crosses quite a few times which becomes his trademark!
Thor wielded his legendary hammer, Mjolnir, in this film, and we get to know that you have to be worthy to pick it. As mentioned before, this movie garnered quite positive reviews, which led to the green-lighting of a second Thor movie.
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
- Director: Alan Taylor
- Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie portman, tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba
- IMDB Rating: 6.8/10
- Where to watch: Disney plus
This movie is a part of MCU Phase 2, and by now already, the Avengers had released where Hemsworth’s Thor had teamed up with Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).
About Thor: The Dark World
In this marvel film, the main antagonists were the Dark Elf Malekith and his forces, who had once fought against Odin’s father, Bor. In the current scenario, Loki is in prison in Asgard for his crimes in the Avengers movie. Jane Foster and Darcy come across an abandoned factory to find out how portals are opening there.
They find the Aether (one of the Infinity stones which will come up again in Avengers Infinity War and Avengers Endgame). The Aether gets attached to Jane and starts affecting her. Thor comes to know about this and takes Jane to Asgard, and there due to the effect of the Aether, the dark elves wake up again and attack Asgard.
Mother of Thor and Loki – Frigga dies when Malekith stabs her, which makes Thor and Loki reunite to avenge her. However, this movie was comparatively not much popular with marvel fans.
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- Director: Taika Waititi
- Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Cate Blanchett, Karl Urban
- IMDB Rating: 7.9/10
- Where to watch: Disney plus
This movie is arguably the best of Thor and had one of the most beautiful scripts and eccentric direction by Taika Waititi. A makeover is given to Thor’s character in MCU after Thor’s Dark World flop. The film was humorous and light-hearted in its own worth.
Before this film was released, there was another Marvel movie Captain America: Civil War which showed the inconspicuous absence of Thor and Hulk. At the same time, the rest of the Avengers were present. Ragnarok gave the reason behind their lack.
About Thor: Ragnarok
The movie had characters like Dr. Bruce Banner/ Hulk, played by Mark Ruffalo, with his impeccable comic timing. Ruffalo and Hemsworth had great chemistry. We also got Thompson as a kickass Valkyrie, and their chemistry was so good that Hemsworth and Thompson got cast together in the next Men in Black movie.
Ragnarok took place on a different planet than Earth or Asgard, called Sakaar, under the rule of a crazy dictator, Grandmaster, played by Goldblum. The Grandmaster takes Thor and Loki separately, where they find Bruce Banner. He is living in Sakaar, stuck in his Hulk form.
Thor’s newly found evil sister, the Goddess of Death Hela, broke his hammer Mjolnir into pieces and took over Asgard. The ending battle scene in the movie is one of the best superhero movies. By the movie’s end, Ragnarok destroys Asgard fulfilling a prophecy, and its inhabitants leave in a spaceship to make their home in the new Asgard.
November 21, 2017 – Thor and his Allies escape Sakaar and battle Hela for the fate of Asgard. After a long battle, Thor learns that only Surtur could defeat Hela, so he enacts Ragnarök, destroying Asgard #ThorRagnarok
https://t.co/6yn9bTv23d pic.twitter.com/QIt4oaP0Dl
— Today in the MCU (@TodayInTheMCU) November 21, 2022
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
- Director: Taika Waititi
- Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Christian bale, Russel Crowe, Chris pratt
- IMDB Rating: 7/10
- Where to watch: showing in theatres
A lot has happened since we watched Thor in his last movie. Thanos had come and gone; half of the earth had snapped and blipped back. Thor underwent weight issues and depression, among many other things.
Tessa Thompson has reprised her role as King Valkyrie, whom Thor had given the responsibility of ruling Asgard at the end of Avengers Endgame. Last we saw Thor was in Endgame, where he had decided to accompany the Guardians of the Galaxy (Starlord, Groot, Rocket, Drax, and the rest) in saving the galaxy from threats.
Loki was last seen to have died in Ragnarok, but due to the time travel shenanigans in Endgame, the NY version of Loki escaped and exists somewhere in the Marvel universe. He was last seen in the Loki marvel web series, and a second season will release sometime next year.
About Thor: Love and Thunder
In the trailer of Thor: Love and Thunder, we saw Jane Foster as Mighty Thor, who is a variant of our Chris Hemsworth’s Thor. The main antagonist is Gorr, the god butcher. Christian Bale plays him with precision and is one of the best parts of this movie.
Russell Crowe has been teased to appear as Greek God Zeus. The makers have promised LGBTQ themes and the trailer has us hyped with the funny quips characteristic of the Waititi movies.
Are you worthy? Get ready to wield Mjölnir in Marvel Studios' #ThorLoveAndThunder! ⚡️ Add it to your movie collection now with deleted scenes, bonus content and more. https://t.co/8jr7HIredg pic.twitter.com/J5sZGT1SQw
— Thor (@thorofficial) October 6, 2022
The End of an Era
Marvel has entered a new era. In phase 4, Marvel has been releasing exciting new projects like the Wanda Vision web series, the reunion of all the Spidermen in Spiderman No Way Home, and South Asian teen Superhero Kamala Khan as Ms. Marvel. This was the last time for Chris Hemsworth as Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder a Kevin Feige-produced movie on the big screen.
Notwithstanding how much Chris might love playing Thor, all good things come to an end, and this feels like the end of the line for this character in the Thor franchise. It’s time to hang the magical hammer (for Hemsworth. For Natalie, we don’t know yet!). So, waste no time and go catch this movie in the theatres!
Some Surprising Facts:
- Hiddleston (Loki) originally wanted to play Thor.
- Stan Lee (comic book writer) wanted to play the role of Thor’s father, Odin.
- Thor is originally from Norse Mythology, and he was born in a cave in Norway.
- Thor has two half-brothers one being Loki and the other one is Atum.
- Chris Hemsworth and his brother Liam both auditioned for Thor and the role almost went to Liam.
- Hela (played by Cate Blanchett) in Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok is the first female movie villain.
- For the movie, Thor: The Dark World approximately over 30 variations of hammers were made.
- For Thor movies real scientists were consulted to make everything look real.
- Thor’s Hammer is more powerful in comics than in movies.
