Stripped naked and swapped for a woman: how Chris Hemsworth’s Thor is currently looking

Losing his hammer was bad enough, but now our hero must cope with being ogled by goddesses in Thor: Love and Thunder

It’s tough being Chris Hemsworth’s Thor right now. As the new trailer for Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder shows us, the latest episode of the Marvel superhero’s adventures has him replaced as the god of thunder by his ex-girlfriend Jane Foster, now known as the Mighty Thor, and stripped naked by Russell Crowe’s Zeus as assorted females ogle and faint. It’s enough to get the men’s-rights brigade gasping in horror, and duly there are already umpteen threads on Reddit decrying Hollywood’s double standards.

If a female character were treated in the same way, there would be an outcry, goes the common refrain. Some point to the fact that Hemsworth complained (pretty half-heartedly, it must be said) about having to take his top off in the last Thor episode, 2017’s Ragnarok. Won’t somebody please think of the poor Aussie actor’s feelings in all this? Can’t those mean women and liberals just leave him alone, for Odin’s sake?

Out there in the multiverse somewhere there is probably a movie in which Thor finally cracks under the weight of all that objectification and goes on a bloodthirsty rampage of revenge, like some horrific cross between the Two Ronnies’ classic The Worm that Turned sketch and a male-led take on Kill Bill. Fortunately, we live in a very different version of reality. As this column has already noted, Waititi is entirely comfortable sending up Hemsworth’s hunky doofus status because the Aussie himself is clearly entirely comfortable with this new, cheerful and open-hearted (if slightly blond) version of the Norse superhero. Because he’s funnier, and more fun to play. That’s the thing about being a 6ft 3in musclebound behemoth with a face gorgeous enough to launch a thousand spaceships (I assume) – little things like being ogled probably aren’t top of one’s list to get upset about. Everything really is OK here.

Still not convinced, guys? Anyone worried that the MCU might be about to go the same way as Jason Aaron’s Mighty Thor comic book, which really did see the god of thunder replaced by Jane and forced to labour under the Odinson moniker, should take solace from the words of Waititi himself in a recent interview with Total Film. “We stick pretty closely to Jane’s storyline, and what happened to Jane [in the comics],” said the director. “Because that was such an influence on the film. We’re trying to take the best parts of that. And also, it’s really fun, the idea that Thor got Stormbreaker, that big axe, and now his hammer’s back and it’s in the hands of someone else.

“It’s no longer his hammer. It’s the idea that someone’s taking his place. I think a lot of fans are gonna potentially assume, ‘Oh, OK, this is the passing on of the torch’ … I’m not privy to any plans Marvel has for the future, but I don’t think that’s the case.”

Chris Hemsworth in a robe in Thor: Love and Thunder.
Chris Hemsworth in Thor: Love and Thunder. Photograph: Jasin Boland/Marvel/Disney/AP

Thor’s real problem in Love and Thunder doesn’t look as though it’s going to be Natalie Portman’s Jane, or losing his clothes, at all. The key baddie in Waititi’s film is Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher, who is on a mission to murder all the universe’s known deities and looks like a cross between Marilyn Manson and Mother Teresa. The new trailer also gives us our first look at the supervillain Waititi has claimed could be Marvel’s greatest so far, and it’s clear the studio has bet the house on Bale’s star power here. In the comics, Gorr has near-reptilian features and tentacles, but even the baddie’s creator has pointed out that if you’ve got Christian Bale on your team it’s probably a good idea to make the most of him.

By the way: getting Crowe to play Zeus, the pompous and self-important king of the Olympian gods? Somebody out there deserves all the box-office riches that will no doubt come Love and Thunder’s way for that little nugget of stunt-casting. And at least, dear Redditors, it wasn’t a sneaky and conniving woman who cruelly stole all Thor’s threads.

Contributor

Ben Child

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Will Natalie Portman’s Thor mean the end of Chris Hemsworth’s take? Not necessarily
A new trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder hints at the dilemma for director Taika Waititi’s next edition of the superhero franchise

Ben Child

22, Apr, 2022 @9:14 AM

Article image
Thor 4: Taika Waititi drops Akira for second bite at God of Thunder
The problematic Warner remake of the classic anime is put on hold while the Ragnarok director returns to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe

Ben Child

18, Jul, 2019 @9:45 AM

Article image
Thor: The Dark World – review
With Tom Hiddleston overshadowed by an apocalyptically dull new villain, Thor’s return is punctuated by thunderous boredom, writes Peter Bradshaw

Peter Bradshaw

31, Oct, 2013 @10:15 PM

Article image
Thor: The Dark World – first look review
Hiddleston and Hemsworth’s impressive collective charisma rescues this followup to Thor, but the film is missing Kenneth Branagh’s directorial delicacy of touch, writes Ben Child

Ben Child

23, Oct, 2013 @11:18 AM

Article image
Will we ever see a black Iron Man, Asian Hulk or female Thor on the big screen?
Expect more diverse superheroes not only in Marvel’s comic but also in cinemas. It’s about time

Ben Child

08, Jul, 2016 @7:00 AM

Article image
Thor: Ragnarok review – Chris Hemsworth unleashes comedy superpowers on emo Cate Blanchett
Hunt for the Wilderpeople’s Taika Waititi infuses the third Thor movie with a generous dose of self-deprecating Kiwi humour, even if it all remains somewhat inconsequential

Steve Rose

19, Oct, 2017 @4:11 PM

Article image
Thor: The Dark World star Tom Hiddleston: 'Thor and Loki love, hate and need each other' - video interview
The cast of Thor: The Dark World talk to Ben Child about the Marvel superhero sequel

Ben Child and Henry Barnes

30, Oct, 2013 @2:18 PM

Article image
Thor: Kenneth Branagh's film looks the wrong kind of weird | Ben Child

He was once nominated for a best director Oscar, but while Branagh brings gravitas to Thor, Marvel's latest superhero project, initial impressions from the new footage suggest an over-reliance on CGI

Ben Child

29, Jul, 2010 @12:13 PM

Article image
Christian Bale's new Marvel role could pitch him as the anti-Batman
Eight years after The Dark Knight Rises, the Oscar-winner’s mooted return to comic book movies in Thor: Love and Thunder could offer him the chance to play a truly bombastic baddie

Ben Child

09, Jan, 2020 @2:03 PM

Article image
Can the Hulk save Thor from becoming Marvel's puniest hero?
A Thor/Hulk intergalactic buddy movie featuring select cuts from the classic Planet Hulk storyline could be in the works, and it’d make Thor: Ragnarok a movie we’d walk into hell to see

Ben Child

03, Jun, 2016 @5:26 PM