No offense to Chris Hemsworth, who by all accounts is a wonderful gentleman, but his box office track record as a leading man outside of his Marvel Cinematic Universe comfort zone isn’t all that great.
The actor has seen Blackhat, In the Heart of the Sea, Huntsman: Winter’s War, 12 Strong, Bad Times at the El Royale, and Men in Black: International all under-perform during their theatrical runs, while the majority of them weren’t particularly well-received by critics, either.
With that in mind, it’s understandable the big Aussie would be trepidatious about joining another monolithic IP when he agreed to break bad as the villain George Miller’s post-apocalyptic prequel Mad Max: Furiosa. In fact, Hemsworth voiced his concerns during an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast that he’d end up derailing the entire franchise.
“Often I get a script and I know from the first read, the second read, I know who the character is and I get an instant, sort of, visceral feeling attached to it, like, ‘Alright, I’ve got it.’ This I had read two years before I started shooting and was in awe of the script. It was the most beautiful thing I’ve read. I love George Miller — but I didn’t know who this character was.”
“We did about four weeks of rehearsals, and we started digging in and diving into it, and things started coming to me. And then, about two weeks prior to shooting, something clicked. I went, ‘Ooh! Ooh. I think that’s who it is. I think that’s how he moves.’ But, in the buildup, and I’m talking a couple years, I was scared out of my mind. I’m like, ‘I’m gonna derail one of the most iconic franchises.’ I’m gonna bring down Mad Max. It’s gonna be my fault.”
Based on his history, it’s not an unreasonably conclusion for Hemsworth to jump to, even if Mad Max has thrived for over 40 years and delivered at least three all-time classics, depending entirely on how you feel about Beyond Thunderdome. We’ve got confidence in both the longtime Thor, leading lady Anya Taylor-Joy, and Miller, so Furiosa should be in solid hands.