Chris Hemsworth has built a career around physically demanding, stunt-heavy blockbuster roles, though his turn as Thor in the MCU is arguably his most well-known and widely celebrated. The God of Thunder is one of the franchise’s longest-standing original Avengers, with the actor having headlined four solo movies and multiple Avengers features, including the upcoming Marvel tentpole Avengers: Doomsday, which serves as the first part of the Multiverse Saga finale. However, his latest movie role in the killer thriller Kockroach has reignited rumors that he could be bidding a permanent farewell to his sizable superhero in the near future.
Hemsworth first sparked speculation about his character’s fate last year when he posted a retrospective video titled “Thank You! The Legacy of Thor,” highlighting his 15-year tenure in the MCU and calling it “one of the greatest honors” of his life, which led many to believe that he would be killed off in the upcoming film. The actor subsequently clarified that he was not hanging up his Mjölnir and retiring from the role yet. However, he has now brought the debate back to the fore, as he has debuted a dramatic new look for his starring role in the genre-bending New York crime thriller Kockroach – which has now officially wrapped filming.
Kockroach completed its principal photography towards the end of May, prompting Hemsworth to share a post on Instagram over the weekend (above) to celebrate the production milestone. In the caption, he called the project “possibly the most fun I’ve had on a set” and gave a further shoutout to the “amazing cast and crew and one hell of a wild script!” The post included a carousel of behind-the-scenes images from the film, showcasing a significantly leaner physique for Hemsworth in direct contrast to his bulked-up Thor appearances, leaving fans worried that he could be shedding his superhero muscle to exit the MCU.
“You look like losing some muscles for this role?” a fan quizzed in the comment section, while another probed, “I can’t be the only one who sees it, but he looks like he slimmed down a lot for this role and is not as big as we knew him to be.” The observation is not unfounded, as Hemsworth’s role in Kockroach would have required him to lose his signature superhero bulk. He is playing a literal cockroach that transforms, by the looks of it, into an impeccably dressed human who claws his way up to become a larger-than-life crime boss.
Kockroach is a mobster epic directed by Matt Ross from a script by Jonathan Ames, adapting William Lashner’s acclaimed 2007 novel of the same name (written under the pseudonym of Tyler Knox). Hemsworth took over the lead anti-hero role after Channing Tatum had to step down due to scheduling conflicts, but it seems he had to abandon his rugged superhero look to adopt a more street-level noir aesthetic alongside an all-star ensemble that includes Taron Egerton, Zazie Beetz, Rachel Sennott, Brian Geraghty, and Alec Baldwin.
It is not uncommon for actors to undergo extreme back-and-forth transformations to bring different characters to life, so Hemsworth’s new look doesn’t automatically mean that his superhero swansong is on the horizon, but it has no doubt contributed to the intense retirement speculation. The actor is actively attached to return as Thor in Avengers: Doomsday and has previously hinted that he will reprise the role again after that and have some ideas on where to go next, indicating that he could also appear in Avengers: Secret Wars or a potential Thor 5, and will not be bringing the hammer down on his time in the MCU just yet.
- Director
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Matt Ross
- Writers
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Jonathan Ames, Matt Ross
- Producers
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Andrew Lazar, Christina Weiss Lurie
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
