Robert Downey Jr.’s Avengers co-star had it trickier than others to figure out his God character in the films

Robert Downey Jr. thinks highly of one of his Avengers co-stars who had a much more difficult time figuring out his character in the initial stages of the MCU. Downey Jr. shared that Hemsworth’s character was a lot trickier to adapt than his billionaire playboy superhero, Chris Evans’ no-nonsense Cap, or Scarlett Johansson’s badass S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Being a God figure, Hemsworth and the director of the first film, Kenneth Branagh, had to balance the character’s complex psyche.

Chris Hemsworth in a still from Thor: Love and Thunder
Hemsworth’s run with the MCU has seen both hits and misses. While people loved him in Thor and even more in Thor: Ragnarok, his second film The Dark World and fourth film Love and Thunder are placed on the list of the worst MCU films ever.

Chris Hemsworth Receives Praise From Avengers Co-Star Robert Downey Jr.

Chris Hemsworth and Robert Downey Jr. with the other Avengers actors in 2012’s The Avengers

Chris Hemsworth‘s Thor remains one of the few OG Avengers remaining in the MCU. While fans expect him to be a bigger part of the upcoming Multiverse Saga finale movies, Hemsworth’s last outing in the franchise was largely forgettable. During a cover story with Vanity Fair, the Extraction star himself admitted his mistakes in his latest Marvel film, Thor: Love and Thunder.

While Hemsworth is being largely critical of himself, his MCU co-star has words of high praise for the actor and the character. Robert Downey Jr. shared that Thor as a character was one of the trickiest ones to adapt since it had a lot of limitations. The Asgardian God had to emit a powerful godly vibe but also had to be relatable to the audience.

Downey Jr. shared that Hemsworth and Kenneth Branagh figured out a balanced approach to portraying the character in the first film. According to the Oppenheimer actor, Thor had the most complex psyche out of all Avengers, since he has both the wit and gravitas as well as the restraint and gentleness. Downey Jr. shared with Vanity Fair:

“First off, Thor as a character was super tricky to adapt—lots of implied limitations—but he and Ken Branagh figured out how to transcend, make him somehow relatable but godlike. Hemsworth is, in my opinion, the most complex psyche out of all us Avengers. He’s got wit and gravitas, but also such restraint, fire, and gentleness.”

Hemsworth and Downey Jr. appeared together in all of the Avengers ensemble movies. The Australian actor’s Marvel role made him one of the prominent actors in Hollywood, with several action roles to his name.

Chris Hemsworth Blames Himself For Thor: Love and Thunder Failure

Chris Hemsworth blames himself for the poor performance of Thor: Love and Thunder
Chris Hemsworth is definitely doing another Thor movie. He told Vanity Fair that after the disastrous fourth Thor film, Marvel fans deserved another movie with his Asgardian character. Earlier, he admitted in an interview with GQ that Love and Thunder was too silly, but he explained more about what happened with the film in his recent interview. Hemsworth shared that he got caught up in “the improv and the wackiness” and “became a parody of myself”.

Hemsworth revealed that he was always frustrated with his character in the Marvel films. He admitted to feeling pretty replaceable in the character. He shared that he compared his lines with his co-star’s lines and always felt that the others got the cooler stuff. Hemsworth shared with Vanity Fair:

“Sometimes I felt like a security guard for the team. I would read everyone else’s lines, and go, ‘Oh, they got way cooler stuff. They’re having more fun. What’s my character doing?’ It was always about, ‘You’ve got the wig on. You’ve got the muscles. You’ve got the costume. Where’s the lighting?’ Yeah, I’m part of this big thing, but I’m probably pretty replaceable.”

Thor 5 is currently in development at Marvel Studios. Meanwhile, Hemsworth is playing the villain role in George Miller‘s upcoming Mad Max: Fury Road prequel, Furiosa. The movie also starring Anya Taylor-Joy will hit theaters on May 23, 2024. Chris Hemsworth’s Thor movies are now available for streaming on Disney+.