page_title: Thor (Marvel Cinematic Universe)
section_title: Characterization
hierarchical_section_title: Thor (Marvel Cinematic Universe) / Concept, creation, and characterization / Characterization
caption_attribution_description: English: Chris Hemsworth speaking at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con International in San Diego, California.
context_page_description: Thor Odinson is a fictional character portrayed by Chris Hemsworth in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film franchise, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. In the films, Thor is one of the most powerful of the Asgardians, an alien civilization with long ties to Earth, who are therefore considered on Earth to be gods.
  As of 2020, the character is a central figure of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, having appeared in eight films of the series.
context_section_description: Regarding his take on the character, Hemsworth said, "We just kept trying to humanize it all, and keep it very real. Look into all the research about the comic books that we could, but also bring it back to 'Who is this guy as a person, and what's his relationship with people in the individual scenes?'" About approaching Thor's fighting style, he remarked, "First, we looked at the comic books and the posturing, the way [Thor] moves and fights, and a lot of his power seems to be drawn up through the ground. We talked about boxers, you know, Mike Tyson, very low to the ground and big open chest and big shoulder swings and very sort of brutal but graceful at the same time, and then as we shot stuff things became easier." Dakota Goyo portrays a young Thor in the first film.
  For The Avengers, Hemsworth said that he was able to maintain the strength he built up for Thor by increasing his food intake, consisting of chicken breasts, fish, steak, and eggs every day. When asked exactly how much, Hemsworth said, "My body weight in protein pretty much!" He remarked that Thor's motivation "is much more of a personal one, in the sense that it's his brother that is stirring things up. Whereas everyone else, it's some bad guy who they've gotta take down. It's a different approach for me, or for Thor. He's constantly having to battle the greater good and what he should do vs. it's his little brother there. . . I've been frustrated with my brothers at times, or family, but I'm the only one who is allowed to be angry at them. There's a bit of that."
  According to Hemsworth, in Thor: The Dark World, "for Thor and Jane, there are some unanswered questions now, since obviously he didn't stop in and catch up with her in The Avengers. Thor might have some explaining to do in this one. And with Loki, we get down to the major bones of our conflict with everything that's come from Thor to Avengers to now". Hemsworth added, "Thor's journey I think picks more so up from where we left the first one—About to take on the throne... and now coming to the realization of what responsibility comes with that. Also, Alan [Taylor] keeps talking about the dark side of that responsibility, and the secrets of being king or becoming sort of very political about what people need to know and what they want to know." Hemsworth especially enjoyed the role of Thor in this film as he was able to, "... break him down and find his human qualities and his vulnerable side."
  Hemsworth stated that Age of Ultron shows Thor as having remained on Earth since the events of The Dark World, and has begun to feel at home here, therefore considering Ultron's threat a personal attack. Hemsworth stated that he had to work harder to bring new elements to the character to avoid repeating himself, saying that it "gave us room to kind of make him a little more grounded and human and have him in some civilian clothes and mixing it up at a party". Hemsworth noted that Thor's motivations in this film were completely different, as it was the first MCU film where he did not play against Loki.
  By the events of Thor: Ragnarok, Thor has become a "lone gunslinger" searching for the Infinity Stones. Hemsworth had become "a bit bored" with the character by this time, and wanted to take some risks and experiment: the character has shorter hair in the film, wears a different outfit, his hammer Mjolnir is destroyed, and he loses an eye. Director Taika Waititi added that "stripping" the character down like this allowed him to become a refugee at the end of the film. Waititi also wanted to use more of Hemsworth's comedic talents showcased in films like Vacation (2015) and Ghostbusters (2016), and cited Kurt Russell's portrayal of Jack Burton from Big Trouble in Little China (1986) as an influence on the character.
  The events of Infinity War come right on the heels of Ragnarok, finding Thor in a "very profound... very interesting place" with "real emotional motivation". At the recommendation of Hemsworth, writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely consulted Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi and scre
caption: Chris Hemsworth at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 5D Mark IV", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop 7.0", "Image DateTime": "2019:08:06 03:51:50", "Image Artist": "", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "256", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "1204", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1318", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9919", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "3200", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "3200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0231", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2019:07:20 18:24:00", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2019:07:20 18:24:00", "EXIF OffsetTime": "-07:00", "EXIF OffsetTimeOriginal": "-07:00", "EXIF OffsetTimeDigitized": "-07:00", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "420", "EXIF SubSecTime": "71", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "71", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "71", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2808", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3832", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "268800/47", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "2240000/391", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF CameraOwnerName": "", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "295057000674", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[420, 420, 0, 0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM +1.4x", "EXIF LensSerialNumber": "0000000000"}