Avengers: Age of Ultron features more wirework with bigger stunts and different fighting tools. Chris Hemsworth shares that the story will be deeply complex now and characters more evolved
Chris Hemsworth relished reprising the role of Thor in Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, he says, “It’s great to be a part of something that has this built-in audience and do the first film and have that audience respond positively and welcome you back for the next one and be part of something that has such following and success. It is a once-in-a-career opportunity. It’s cool to play a superhero.”
For the character of Thor, the film picks up after Thor: The Dark World. So Thor is now living on earth. “We see a more grounded, earthly version of Thor than we have in the past,” says Hemsworth. “It’s nice because there are a few more opportunities for some humour and to see him in some casual gear instead of the cape and the armour that we always see him in.”
As far as Thor’s role within The Avengers team is concerned, Hemsworth informs, “He’s a central part of the team now. He’s established and there’s certainly a solid unity that they’ve all formed. Thor sees a bigger picture of the current conflict that’s going on. There’s the initial battle that they’re involved in but Thor uses Asgardian knowledge and starts to tap into some other worldly possibilities to use against the threats that he thinks are coming.”
When you put The Avengers, who are sole leaders in their own environments, into another situation where they cannot all assume the leadership role, it causes tension and problems. Hemsworth explains, “There is as much conflict in the group as there’s been in the past and Thor certainly pinpoints a lot of problems with Iron Man and blames him. There animosity towards him but there are also some good laughs and humour. Thor and Cap always see each other as equals so there’s not quite the ego clash there.
The rest of the team melds together but Stark is Thor’s biggest problem. Thor’s an easy target for Stark. Stark’s full of sarcasm and wit. There’s Thor standing there in a Halloween-like costume from another world and Stark enjoys having a dig at him but Thor likes giving it back. They’re very similar. That’s why they have moments where they can get along but a lot of the time they clash.” When The Avengers first meet Ultron, the robotic mega-villain played by James Spader, they have no idea what is going on but “through the film they are piecing together who is responsible,” informs Hemsworth.
“Thor thinks Stark is certainly the main reason for Ultron but he also realises that Stark had good intentions as to what he was trying to achieve by inventing Ultron.” Describing Ultron, Hemsworth says, “Ultron on one hand is an angry, misunderstood, immature being but he’s also one of the most dangerous and threatening things they’ve ever come across but Thor also sees he’s just a piece of a larger threat and a larger puzzle.”
Hemsworth admits that he had no idea of what Ultron was going to be like or how he was going to be played but when he saw James Spader inform and inhabit the role it all came together for him. “It was one of the first times on any set where I had really no idea what that character was going to be and how that performance was going to be played out.
The first time James did it, it just all made sense. The way he plays it, everything has a sort of sarcasm and irony yet it’s a beautiful mix. I remember the first time he came on set and did this big monologue for all of us. We all applauded by the end of it and forgot our lines because we were captivated by what he was doing,” he says.
With Joss Whedon once again writing and directing, Hemsworth felt comfortable in familiar hands. “Any time you have a director who’s also written the script, it’s a huge benefit because they can articulate exactly what their intentions were when they wrote that character, so you have the source of that information right in front of you,” comments Hemsworth.
“He’s such a smart guy to be able to bring this many characters together and give them all a purpose and a focus and then have this huge, complicated story around it with tons of action, tons of humour and also heart. That’s the balance that a lot of these films miss and he’s a genius when it comes to melding those things together. Joss has a great sense of humour; he’s a good guy to be around. He is somebody you don’t mind spending four or five months with on the set and we’re very lucky to have found him.”
Hemsworth points out that Avengers: Age of Ultron is definitely ratcheting up the movie-going experience for audiences. He explains why: “We’ve gone to far more locations than we have ever before and covered more ground, so aesthetically it’s going to be a mash-up of a whole lot of different locations and styles and images. Even the complexity of the story has gone deeper and we’ve seen all these characters evolve in the individual films and now to see them come together a second time is pretty exciting.”