Chris Hemsworth

Marvel found a hit in last summer’s “Thor,” which did well enough at the box office to spawn a sequel and earn star Chris Hemsworth a place in “The Avengers.” But in the latter film, the Australian native has to share screen time with a handful of A-listers — Robert Downey Jr., Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, to name a few — something he admits he found difficult to adjust to. “You have a much clearer story line, obviously, in your film, and in this film you have to read between the lines a lot more,” Hemsworth said. “It’s tougher working with a huge ensemble, because you can fall into the trap of trying to make too much out of the one line you have. But you’ve just gotta trust that the script supports everybody.” “The Avengers,” which opens May 4, […]

Snow White has undergone many makeovers since her Brothers Grimm incarnation in 1812, and none persists in the American imagination of today more than Walt Disney’s warbling beauty. But “Snow White and the Huntsman” gives the raven-haired princess a treatment far bleaker than the current rival versions in “Mirror Mirror” and “Once Upon A Time.” A five-minute trailer, which aired Saturday at WonderCon, teases a dark epic in which Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth, who play the film’s title characters, and a band of dwarfs lead a battle against Charlize Theron’s evil queen. It’s a bold feature film debut for director Rupert Sanders, whose previous work is primarily commercial. Hero Complex writer Noelene Clark caught up with Sanders to talk about the film’s magic, mythology and star power. NC: We see such a bleak world in the new trailer for […]

When “The Avengers” arrives in theaters on May 4 it represents an unprecedented Hollywood experiment — can the narrative threads from four different superhero franchises come together to form a unified tapestry in a fifth, all-star franchise? With “The Avengers,” director Joss Whedon will bring together the stars of three franchises — Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man,  Chris Evans as Captain America and Chris Hemsworth as Thor — and the title character of a fourth — the Hulk, whose human alter ego, Bruce Banner, will be portrayed this time by Mark Ruffalo. From day one, the lead architect of the plan has been Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, who said Friday that the marathon reaches out to the most fervent of fans. “We have always made the Marvel movies as stand-alone superhero stories, each autonomous of one another and delivered to appeal audiences everywhere,” […]

The world feels especially cruel, tense and chaotic these days, so of course people want new-look fairy tales to escape it all. That’s the presumption of Hollywood, at least, which thinks that what you need in a grim era is, well, more Grimm. On television there’s “Once Upon a Time” and “Grimm,” in comics there’s Bill Willingham’s sprawling epic “Fables,“ and on the big screen we have “Puss in Boots” cat-walking in the footsteps of “Red Riding Hood,” “Stardust,” “Enchanted,”  “Beastly,” “Hoodwinked,” “The Brothers Grimm” and the hugely successful “Shrek” films. Then there ‘s also the billion-dollar success of Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” and Disney’s upcoming “Oz: The Great and Powerful,” which aren’t pure fairy tales but certainly qualify as bookshelf cousins that offer a similar otherworldy allure to filmmakers. Looking ahead, there’s “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters” with Jeremey Renner and Gemma Arterton in […]

“Thor” star Chris Hemsworth is sad to see director Kenneth Branagh leave Asgard, but he said the filmmaker’s rumored replacement, Patty Jenkins, is up to the cosmic task she would inherit. “She has a great take on the story and a solid grasp on that kind of universe,” the Aussie actor said Wednesday on the set of “Snow White and the Huntsman” in eastern Wales. Hemsworth, who plays the Huntsman in the ambitious fantasy film, was filming horseback scenes on a beach for a battle sequence against Ravenna, played by Charlize Theron — who just happened to win an Oscar in the Jenkins-directed 2003 film “Monster.” Jenkins (who also directed the acclaimed pilot episode of AMC’s “The Killing” )  isn’t completely locked in for the Marvel Studios sequel but has confirmed that she is in advanced talks to pick up where Branagh left off. The first “Thor” film […]

“Thor” director Kenneth Branagh is walking away from Asgard, and no one is sadder than star Chris Hemsworth. “I’m really disappointed,” Hemsworth said of Branagh’s decision to pass on “Thor 2,” which is aiming for a July 2013 release and may begin filming next May. “Ken built that character, and everything I know about the Thor world I learned while shoulder-to-shoulder with Ken. I learned so much from him.” By all reports, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige invited Branagh back to follow up his success of “Thor,” the May 6 release that has grossed $447 million in worldwide box office. The 50-year-old filmmaker seemed energized by the prospects of a sequel too, both in private and in public. In the end, though, the marathon devotion required for a major visual-effects epic and the urgency to get the script process underway were the […]

“Snow White and the Huntsman,” the fairy tale project that begins shooting next week in the United Kingdom with Kristen Stewart as the lead, has some tough hurdles to overcome. It’s competing with another “Snow White” project from Relativity Media that has already begun filming and features Julia Roberts as the evil queen. It’s also set to come out June 1, three months after Relativity’s “Snow White” movie will debut and close to two months before a Comic-Con International audience will be back in Hall H. What’s a studio to do? How about recruit fans at Comic-Con 2011 with some stills of the cast in costume, a charming British director with an impressive commercial reel and a crew of good-looking lead actors? That’s what Universal Pictures did Saturday afternoon during a  panel featuring Stewart, evil queen Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth […]

A barbarian has needs — a sword, a shield and roughly 56 chicken breasts a week. That’s what Jason Momoa ate while filming “Conan the Barbarian,” this summer’s big-screen reboot of the series that launched Arnold Schwarzenegger’s action movie career in 1982. Over a few months in 2010, Momoa, a 6-foot-4-inch Hawaiian actor and model, added about 30 pounds of muscle to his 205-pound frame to play two high-profile, bare-chested plunderers — Conan and Khal Drogo, the 7-foot-tall warrior-king marauding on HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” Momoa isn’t the only actor whose T-shirts have gotten a lot tighter recently: Dwayne Johnson packed 30 pounds onto his already brawny 6-foot-4-inch frame to grapple as a lawman opposite meaty Vin Diesel in “Fast Five.” Chris Hemsworth gained so much bulk to wield “Thor’s” giant, magic hammer convincingly that his costume didn’t fit. And […]

What exactly does it sound like when a magical mallet strikes an impervious shield? Don’t think Chris Hemsworth hasn’t thought about it. “I’m sure that’s up there on the list of possibilities, that would be something to see at some point,” the star of “Thor” said cryptically when asked if his character might tussle with Captain America in the classic Marvel tradition of superhero sparring. “I’ve thought about that too.” The characters are facing off in a different way this summer. ”Thor” has pulled in $266 million in worldwide box office to date while the star-spangled superhero gets his turn in July with the release of “Captain America: The First Avenger,” which stars Chris Evans in the title role. “I have brothers so I know about competing with someone at the same time you’re cheering for them,” Hemsworth said of the back-to-back Marvel Studios releases. […]

DAYS OF THUNDER: We’ve been counting down to the release of “Thor” with a month of on-the-set reports, exclusive photos and interviews with the cast and crew of the first truly cosmic Marvel Studios film. Today: More from our onstage interview with the director and star. “Thor” director Kenneth Branagh and star Chris Hemsworth came to the free Hero Complex/IMAX screening of the film Wednesday night. We posted some video excerpts Friday and another batch Saturday from the onstage Q&A with our Geoff Boucher. Here’s another snippet. RECENT AND RELATED Chris Hemsworth on magic, crocodiles and Hollywood GALLERY: Five decades of ‘Thor’ covers Idris Elba not fazed by ‘Thor’ fan racism PHOTOS: Thirty-five images from ‘Thor’ Branagh’s epic return with childhood hero ‘Thor’ and the cosmic challenge of filmmaking Portman as a female absent-minded professor Anthony Hopkins on the ruthless charm of Odin