We had been suspecting it for a few weeks when Chris Hemsworth said in an interview and an Instagram post that he did not know if he would continue to be Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or not. He has now explained in a virtual press conference for Thor: Love and Thunder that, although there are many more stories to tell about the god of thunder, there are many other versions of the character “that we have not yet seen”.

Feige, president of Marvel Studios, has been ambiguous enough to leave the door open for more stories, but at the same time subtly suggests that the Thor of the future may be a variant or a different version of the one we have seen. to date with Chris Hemsworth.

“There’s something called comics that tell a lot of stories and all the new ones stem from that. Also, have we told all the great Thor stories yet? The answer is no. There are a lot more. We’ve always considered that the intent in telling our stories is to continue with the life of the character, above all to give continuity to the experience with the actor and show them as part of a whole and not as individual parts. Of course, Mighty Thor (Powerful Thor), played by Natalie Portman, will not be the only alternate version of Thor that we’ll see on screen. Because if we stick to the comics, there are a lot of other incarnations of Thor that we haven’t seen yet.”

The eventual departure of Chris Hemsworth as Thor and the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Thor: Love and Thunder mark the first time Marvel Studios has made a fourth solo movie for one of its superheroes. With Iron Man or Captain America, they were limited to their respective trilogies. But after the reinvention of the character and the success of Thor: Ragnarok, the house of ideas decided to continue that tone and that line that has worked very well for them.

But actors can’t spend their whole lives playing ultra-powerful superheroes because the passage of time is inevitable, and creative interests can change. Although Chris Hemsworth has said and repeated that he would play Thor all his life, his departure will be inevitable. That’s why Kevin Feige starts talking about alternate versions of Thor. In the comics, he wasn’t always the same person, and in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he is no exception.

It’s probably the only real reason Chris Hemsworth is still playing Thor is because of how much of a change the character has undergone over the years. In the virtual press conference, he mentioned: “Over the years the basic elements of the character have remained, but he has also changed as drastically as I have. And he is the fun of all this.” The great person in charge of that turn is Taika Waititi, who was in charge of Thor: Ragnarok.

With Thor: Love and Thunder they intend to “raise the volume” even more to this new version of Thor. This is how the director explained it at the press conference: “When I met Chris Hemsworth I realized that it is very difficult to label him. That is why it was a great challenge. I can say that because of his personality and his energy, he is the type of person who I would go on adventures with. Also someone you can trust to take care of you. Like a real hero. So I wanted to take inspiration from all those qualities and make a Thor that is more like Chris.” And he ended up joking: “actually the film is a documentary.”

Still, Chris Hemsworth’s days in the Cinematic Universe seem to be numbered. It may be a partial departure, in which the character is temporarily removed, giving way to other versions. And after a few years, he comes back one last time. Maybe a bit like Steve Rogers/Captain America is rumored to be and that final return of Chris Evans.