Robert Downey Jr. defends Chris Hemsworth’s performance as Thor

Robert Downey Jr. defended Chris Hemsworth‘s performance as the Marvel superhero, Thor, in response to the Australian actor’s criticism of the character. 

Hemsworth, 40 – who has been busy on a press tour for his upcoming film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – notably labeled Thor as ‘replaceable’ in the Avengers franchise in his recent cover story for Vanity Fair. 

However, the Oppenheimer star, 59 – who also played Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – had an opposite opinion. 

Robert explained to the outlet, ‘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,’ the Oscar winner continued. ‘He’s got wit and gravitas, but also such restraint, fire and gentleness.’

Robert also called Hemsworth’s work in Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame ‘a formidable hat trick.’ 

Elsewhere in the interview, Chris got candid about his frustrations with the character of Thor, stating, ‘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,’ the star expressed. 

In regards to the 2022 film, Thor: Love And Thunder, Chris explained that he, ‘got caught up in the improv and the wackiness, and I became a parody of myself. I didn’t stick the landing.’ 

Both Downey Jr. and Hemsworth worked alongside each other over the years in the Avengers franchise from Avengers (2012) to Avengers: Endgame (2019). 

And Robert has previously shared his praise for Chris’ performance as Thor, which Hemsworth revealed back in 2019 on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, per IndieWire. 

At the time, the Extraction actor recalled improvising an emotional scene in Endgame. ‘And I think it ended with me saying, “I want a Bloody Mary,” to Downey, and he said to me, “How do you feel?” I said, “Yeah, I forgot, it’s pretty special.”‘ 

‘He goes, “Every now and then, a few times in your career, you have little moments where you hit the bullseye and it’s like you’re in the sweet spot.” And he said, “Oh, enjoy it.”‘ 

‘And I really appreciated that, because I definitely felt something special about that moment, but who am I to judge, you know? And so, to have the godfather lean over and say, “Well done, son…”‘ 

While also talking to Vanity Fair, Hemsworth opened up about working in the entertainment industry after turning 40 earlier last year in August. 

‘I think for the first time in my career I’ve started thinking, “S**t, how many years do I have left that I can do this?”‘ he admitted. 

‘I went through a sort of list of films with my production partner yesterday, a bit of a wish list, and then I was like, “Well, that’s six films. That could be the next decade. That could be it. Who knows where I am at that point?”‘ 

However, Chris has been keeping busy and recently starred in the upcoming film titled Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. 

The anticipated prequel to the 2015 movie, Mad Max: Fury Road, also stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Tom Burke, Alyla Browne and Lachy Hulme. 

The premise of the film – which hits theaters on May 24 – follows, ‘The origin story of renegade warrior Furiosa before her encounter and team up with Mad Max,’ per an official IMDB synopsis.   

During a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Hemsworth discussed taking on the role of Dr. Dementus and taking a step away from portraying a superhero. ‘Yeah, it was a real departure, and it was nice…’ 

‘I was about to say it was nice not to wear a cape, but…I did have a cape in this film. And it’s red – or it becomes red eventually, as well. The absurdity of that.’ 

But he added, ‘It’s not intentional to be a comparison of Thor, but I found a wonderful departure to it.’ 

‘To play the villain, transform, and inhabit a completely different physicality was a lot of fun. I loved it. And it was the real attraction.’ 

He also opened up about working with director, George Miller, and wanting, ‘to dirty it up and to be messy and ugly and violent and chaotic, rather than being in the somewhat predictable box of the hero in a superhero space.’ 

Chris explained, ‘There’s a whole lot of rules that you have to stick to [with superhero films]. With this, I could throw that out the window, which was nice.’ 

On Wednesday, the actor was joined by his leading co-star, Anya Taylor-Joy, and director George Miller at a media call for the film in Sydney, Australia. 

He kept it casual for the festivities, and sported a pair of dark gray trousers as well as a matching blazer. Underneath, he opted for a cream-colored button up and a plain white shirt. 

The Queen’s Gambit actress wowed in a figure-hugging, brown ensemble that contained a ruched, one-shoulder bodice as well as a leather skirt that clung to her frame.