Dear Chris Hemsworth, I Think We Watched Different Thor: Love & Thunders

Chris Hemsworth has provided new, critical comments on his experience working on Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder, but hasn’t given the divisive MCU Phase 4 movie enough credit. Chris Hemsworth first appeared as Thor, the Asgardian God of Thunder, in 2010’s eponymous Thor in Phase 1, and he has gone on to become one of the central characters in the MCU. As a prominent member of the Avengers, Thor has protected the Earth and the cosmos from threats including Loki, Malekith, Ultron, Hela, Thanos and Gorr the God Butcher, with the latter debuting in Thor’s most recent MCU adventure.

Thor: Love and Thunder premiered in July 2022, and marked Chris Hemsworth’s fourth solo project as the MCU’s God of Thunder. Taika Waititi returned to direct, following his massively successful reinvention of Thor in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok. However, the comedy that worked so well in Ragnarok surprisingly became a detriment to Love and Thunder, as the Phase 4 project received a huge amount of criticism aimed at its tonal inconsistencies, humor and visual effects. Despite Love and Thunder’s polarizing nature, there are many positive aspects of the project that many, including Chris Hemsworth himself, have been neglecting to focus on.

Chris Hemsworth’s Thor 4 Comments Are Very Harsh

During an April 2024 cover story for Vanity Fair, Chris Hemsworth touched on his experience working on Thor: Love and Thunder, but seemed to have a negative view on the Phase 4 project. Noting that he got “caught up in the improv and the wackiness,” Hemsworth suggested that he became “a parody” of himself, failing to “stick the landing.” These comments, while some may agree, are rather harsh, as even despite the mixed reaction to Thor: Love and Thunder, it would be nice to imagine the project’s lead star having something positive to mention about his most recent MCU adventure.

I got caught up in the improv and the wackiness, and I became a parody of myself. I didn’t stick the landing.

Thor: Love & Thunder Wasn’t A Disaster

A huge amount of attention has been drawn to the more-undesirable aspects of Thor: Love and Thunder since its release in 2022, which has meant that its commendable achievements have gone unnoticed. Thor: Love and Thunder still managed to rake in $760.9 million at the global box office, making it the fourth-highest-grossing movie in the MCU’s Phase 4, behind Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Although this wasn’t as much as Ragnarok’s $865 million, Love and Thunder was still far more successful than both Thor and Thor: The Dark World.

While Thor: Love and Thunder’s critics score on Rotten Tomatoes is nothing to shout home about, an audience score of 76% is far from disappointing. While not all the jokes may have landed properly, it made complete sense for Marvel Studios and Taika Waititi to replicate what worked so well in Thor: Ragnarok when developing Thor: Love and Thunder. While this may have steered the project into silly comedy territory, Thor: Love and Thunder still delivered an entertaining story with emotional depth, a terrifying villain with a tragic backstory, and introduced vibrant new heroes to the world of the MCU.

Why Thor: Love & Thunder Deserves More

Frankly, Thor: Love and Thunder deserves far more praise than it has been given, particularly from the likes of lead star Chris Hemsworth. Not every MCU project is going to be of the standard of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, but Love and Thunder used lightheartedness and joy to deliver a strong storyline nonetheless. The inclusion of Christian Bale as the sinister Gorr the God Butcher was inspired, and though the villain could have been pushed even further, Bale still managed to showcase his humanity, empathy, and love for his daughter in some incredibly beautiful moments, particularly towards the end.

Bringing back Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, and transforming her into the Mighty Thor, was also a brilliant choice. Portman was wasted in previous Thor projects, but Love and Thunder put her center-stage, delivering some heartbreaking moments through her battle with cancer. The development of New Asgard and Thor, Korg and Valkyrie’s bond, and the introduction of Omnipotence City’s residents, including Zeus and Hercules, and Eternity all helped to advance Thor’s overall MCU storyline. Indeed, the humor could have been supported with more serious moments, but Thor: Love and Thunder was still an entertaining addition to the MCU’s Phase 4.