Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson have effectively retired from the MCU, which leaves Chris Hemsworth’s Thor as the longest-serving Avenger – a role he’s played since 2011.
Following four stand-alone “Thor” films and four “Avengers” movies, the actor is indicating he’s ready to retire from the part.
Speaking with Vanity Fair whilst out promoting his new National Geographic series “Limitless” on the Disney+ service, he says he’s ready to call time on playing the Asgard warrior:
“I feel like we’d probably have to close the book if I ever did it again, you know what I mean? I feel like it probably warrants that.
I feel like it’d probably be the finale, but that’s not based on anything anyone’s told me or any sort of plans. You have this birth of a hero, the journey of a hero, then the death of a hero, and I don’t know — am I at that stage? Who knows?”
He adds he’s “completely open to it, if there is something unique and fresh and unexpected to do with the character and the world” and goes on to express his gratitude for playing the role and being able to do something different each time. But his criteria for selecting projects is getting stricter:
“Now, if something’s going to pull me away from my family and my kids, it’s got to be a positive, constructive, collaborative experience. I shot with George Miller on the new prequel to ‘Fury Road’ [‘Furiosa’], part of the ‘Mad Max’ saga, and I said to my agent, ‘That’s where I want to spend my work hours; with someone who is kind and collaborative and interesting.'”
Part of the reason could be down to a revelation within the “Limitless” docuseries where the 39-year-old actor underwent a battery of genetic tests and discovered his biggest fear – two copies of the gene APOE4, which studies have linked to a much higher risk (8x-10x) of Alzheimer’s disease.
Only 2-3% of the populous has two copies of the gene, and Hemsworth’s grandfather has Alzheimer’s. Though not a hard diagnosis for Chris, it is a cause for concern and has made him reflective. He also was adamant the diagnosis be left in the series:
“Look, if this is a motivator for people to take better care of themselves and also understand that there are steps you can take – then fantastic. My concern was I just didn’t want to manipulate it and overdramatize it, and make it into some sort of hokey grab at empathy or whatever for entertainment.”
He is also planning to take a good amount of time off work once his press commitments for “Limitless” wraps and aims to “just simplify” his life, to “be with the kids, be with my wife,” and take some big preventative steps to minimize the potential he could develop the disease.
Hemsworth has already completed production on both the “Extraction” sequel and George Miller’s “Furiosa”.
