Chris Hemsworth Was ‘Underwhelmed’ With Thor Franchise Before Ragnarok

Chris Hemsworth Was ‘Underwhelmed’ With Thor Franchise Before Ragnarok

Thor has been a major player in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2011, both leading his own film series and being one of the founding Avengers. However, the character received his biggest surge in popularity yet with Thor: Ragnarok in late 2017, and Chris Hemsworth credits the threequel with refreshing his character, as going into it, he wasn’t excited about having to play the God of Thunder again. In Hemsworth’s words:

When we came into Ragnarok, I was sort of exhausted of what I’d been doing and a little sort of underwhelmed by what I was putting out there, you know?

Thus far the Thor film series is the only one where each movie was directed by someone different, with Taika Waititi following in the footsteps of Kenneth Branagh and Alan Taylor for Ragnarok. There’s no question that tonally speaking, Ragnarok was significantly different from its predecessors, but that shift paid off, as it’s the most critically well-received of the Thor movies and made $854 million worldwide.

Chris Hemsworth admitted last year that he found Thor: The Dark World to be “meh” (it’s the lowest-rated of the MCU movies on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer), but in his recent interview with Yahoo, he clarified that his issues with the Thor of it all pre-Ragnarok weren’t due to any of the people he had worked with, but his own dissatisfaction with the character. As he put it:

That was no fault of any director or writer, that was me personally. It felt like I’d put myself in a box with what the character could do. So on Ragnarok, it was about breaking all the rules, and kinda going ‘as soon as it feels familiar, do something different’, and Taika [Waititi] – the director – had the same vision, and the same, I guess, guts to just roll the dice and [do the] ‘anything goes’ kind of thing. That was so liberating and freeing, you know, to sort of break away who the character was prior.

Mission accomplished! Not only did Thor: Ragnarok take full advantage of Chris Hemsworth’s comedic skills, but it also put shook up Thor’s world by killing his father, destroying his hammer, gouging out his eye and annihilating Asgard. Granted, the lost eye isn’t really an issue anymore since he was given a bionic replacement by Rocket Raccoon in Avengers: Infinity War, but otherwise Thor is definitely out of that box Hemsworth was worried about and has arguably hit his stride.

MCU fans can look forward to Chris Hemsworth’s Thor returning next week for Avengers: Endgame, but beyond that, the character’s future is shrouded in secrecy. Hemsworth seems open to playing the Asgardian hero again and Tessa Thompson said that a Taika Waititi-directed Thor 4 has been pitched, but for now, Marvel’s upcoming slate of films is, with the exception of Black Widow, focused around brand-new and more recently established characters.

Should there be any major update concerning Thor’s future in the MCU, we here at CinemaBlend will let you know about it. For now, the next chapter of his journey unfolds with the release of Avengers: Endgame on April 26, and you can browse through our Marvel movies guide to learn what else this superhero franchise has coming down the pipeline.

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The Biggest Way Avengers: Endgame Should Affect Spider-Man: Far From Home

The Biggest Way Avengers: Endgame Should Affect Spider-Man: Far From Home

Major SPOILER warning: The ending of Avengers: Endgame is a big focus of this article. DON'T read this until you've seen the movie. You have been warned!

Avengers: Endgame is here, and while the movie is busy destroying every box office opening record, fans are still recuperating from its massive ending. Tears were shed, laughs were had and the battle was won. The MCU was left unquestionably changed following the events of the film, and the one movie where we could and most definitely should see the repercussions of the finale is Spider-Man: Far From Home.

The Web-Slinger's sequel is the first movie after Avengers: Endgame and it's also the final movie of Phase 3. If there was anywhere we would see the aftermath of Endgame, it's in this movie, because it means that Far From Home will have to address the direct effects of the Snap and where it leaves Peter Parker and all his classmates.

Okay, spoiler time.

In Avengers: Endgame, the Avengers are successfully able to acquire all of the Infinity Stones and build their own Infinity Gauntlet. The Hulk, being the only one who can take the full power of the stones, uses the Gauntlet to bring back everyone who was snapped out of existence at the end of Avengers: Infinity War.

Black Panther, Scarlet Witch, The Guardians of the Galaxy and, of course, Spider-Man are among the people brought back to life, but the catch is that five years have passed since they were dusted. To them, no time has passed at all, but the rest of world had to learn to move on, and that probably includes public school systems.

Endgame hints that the world was in pretty terrible shape, but there's no indication that school was stopped. While Peter Parker was wiped off the face of the Earth, some of his classmates definitely weren't, and so they must have completed high school by the time he was resurrected.

That's why it gets tricky for Far From Home, because now it has to address who was and wasn't snapped, and how school works now that half of all teenagers missed out on an education. If it doesn't address the Snap at all, then that's extremely odd.

Assuming that school went on and kids graduated (the acceptance rate for colleges must have skyrocketed in those five years), Far From Home should have a pretty different cast from Spider-Man: Homecoming. Thanks to trailers, I have a pretty decent idea which of Peter's friends were snapped.

There are really only four kids other than Peter who can be considered the main high school cast. Those characters are Ned, Michelle Jones, Flash Thompson, and Betty Brant. Of those, only Betty didn't have that big a part in Homecoming, but it looks like that has changed a bit in Far From Home.

Each of those kids are in Far From Home on the school trip to Europe, so it's probably safe to assume they were all snapped. The trailers don't show any other familiar school kids like the ones on the debate team, so we can guess that they all graduated. I would be surprised if any of these kids were important down the line, but they are all actually real deep-cut Spider-Man references.

For example, one of the kids on the debate team is named Abe Brown. In the comics, this character is actually a vigilante known as Black Tiger, and he's the brother of Hobie Brown, a slightly more well known character who's the original Prowler. Another character, Cindy Moon, was bitten by the same radioactive spider that gave Peter his powers in the comics. She becomes the hero Silk, but there's no indication that happened in the MCU.

Abe, Cindy and the rest of the debate team are either extremely difficult to spot or just aren't in the Far From Home trailer, but I'm thinking they aren't in the movie at all. Maybe they just didn't get to go on the field trip, but it seems like too much of a coincidence that all the tertiary characters have been left out. The Snap would certainly explain the absence.

Otherwise, it would also be extremely weird if Peter's entire class wasn't affected by the Snap. It's mathematically impossible that the whole cast of the Spider-Man movies got off scot free. The events of Infinity War and Endgame are too massive to ignore, and Far From Home is the first movie from the viewpoint of the (mostly) regular citizens. It's a great opportunity to show that Endgame's conclusion has far-reaching effects.

It wouldn't necessarily be that hard a thing to deal with either. The movie just has to explain the status quo in the beginning and then it can get to the summer fun, Elementals and whatever else is going on in Far From Home. Yes, having a whole scene of the group dealing with the fact that they were dead for five years would be great drama to watch, but that's heavier material than I think people are looking for in a Spider-Man movie.

There can just be a scene in the beginning between Peter and Aunt May where they do some light exposition dumping about how Peter and some of his class are still in the same grade after being gone for five years.

Of course, all of this is assuming that Far From Home takes place after Endgame. It could be set before Infinity War and then the Snap won't factor into it all. That's a 'get our of jail free card' if there ever was one, but then whatever the next Spider-Man movie is will have to deal with the issue of the Snap. It's unavoidable, so Marvel might as well just deal with it now and get it over with.

Ultimately, it's a good thing for Far From Home to address the Snap. It helps to explain how the world works now that Thanos has come and gone, and it sets the status quo for Peter moving forward. Marvel likes the high school setting for Spider-Man and it makes sense that it'd want to keep him there for as long as possible. I don't expect Far From Home to dig too deeply into it, but an explanation would certainly be helpful and serve as a great way to show how this universe is moving post in a post-Endgame world.

We'll find out what's happening one way or the other when Spider-Man: Far From Home swings into theaters on July 2.

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Don Cheadle Wants Deadpool To Join The Avengers

Don Cheadle Wants Deadpool To Join The Avengers

Avengers: Endgame has been in theaters for a week, but the conversation regarding the film's contents have only just begun. The Russo Brothers crafted an extremely ambitious blockbuster, which wrapped up the Infinity Saga and even provided a few teases for what's coming next. But with the absence of a credits scene, most of Phase Four is a giant mystery.

One of the biggest questions surrounding Marvel's future is if/when the characters previously owned by 20th Century Fox will be adopted into the massive shared universe. This is perhaps the most relevant to Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool franchise, as Disney has expressed its interest in continuing the R-rated romp. Don Cheadle has played War Machine in the MCU since Iron Man 2, and recently expressed hope that Wade Wilson joins The Avengers, saying:

Yeah, I think that Deadpool would, I think we want to see that.

You tell 'em, Rhodes. The Merc with a Mouth has been noticeably absent from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and both the fans and cast themselves would love to welcome Deadpool to the fold in a future installment.

Don Cheadle's comments to Variety echo what Marvel fans have been saying since Deadpool first hit theaters in 2016. Ryan Reynolds played the fourth-wall-breaking antihero masterfully, and the character became extremely popular to casual fans overnight. And considering how much the title character references the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the idea of him assembling with Earth's Mightiest Heroes hasn't been far from moviegoers' minds.

And according to Don Cheadle, that also includes the members of the MCU. While Disney's plans for Deadpool and The Avengers is unclear at the moment, it seems like a logical time to bring Wade Wilson into the fold. Endgame marked the end of the OG Marvel actors' contracts, so it's unclear if we'll see the likes of Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man again in the future. As such, Marvel Studios may want to bring new talent to help fill in the ranks.

Enter Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool. Bringing Wade Wilson into the MCU would skip the pesky origin story or first introduction, with cinephiles instead following a fully formed character. The Deadpool franchise has made a ton of money at the box office, so even casual moviegoers will have some understanding of the foul mouthed anti-hero. And from all the references, it's clear that Deadpool knows the MCU's denizens well.

Related: Chris Hemsworth Welcomed Deadpool To The MCU In A Great Way

For now, we'll just have to wait and see if/when Deadpool joins the MCU. And he's not the only formerly owned Fox property, as the Fantastic Four and X-Men also have the potential to be adapted by Marvel Studios.

Avengers: Endgame is in theaters now, and making a ton of money at the box office. Be sure to check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

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Spoiler Alert? Why Spider-Man: Far From Home Is Opening Four Days Early In China

Spoiler Alert? Why Spider-Man: Far From Home Is Opening Four Days Early In China

Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, Spidey’s back and this time he’ll be venturing outside his Queens neighborhood to go on a summer vacation in Europe with his fellow classmates. The Spider-Man sequel will also now be opening “far from home” first as well, as China’s release date is now set for June 28.

This is great news for the Middle Kingdom, which had to wait two months longer than the rest of the world to see 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming. Tread lightly folks, this also means that spoiler-y online discourse about the movie could begin almost a week before North American audiences grab their seats and popcorn to enjoy Far From Home.

The movie is following in the monumental footsteps of Avengers: Endgame, which opened in China two days early before earning over $614 million in the foreign market so far. According to Deadline, the upcoming Spider-Man flick is debuting ahead of the U.S, and Canada to avoid opening next to Chinese war epic The Eight Hundred and The Secret Life of Pets 2 on July 5, and before the country’s annual “Hollywood Blackout."

In order to give local titles a boost at the box office in the summer months, China has an annual unofficial ban on foreign films. Last time, this stopped Spider-Man: Homecoming from getting a shot at a summer release in China. Far From Home will give audiences a week head start for the title to shoot out some big opening numbers for the MCU entry before the blackout starts.

China is certainly the highest foreign earner for the Spider-Man franchise. Homecoming made $116 million in the country out of the film’s $880 worldwide haul. There’s extra eyes on Far From Home, since it follows Marvel’s biggest success with Avengers: Endgame.

The blockbuster is the official end to MCU’s Phase 3 and the “Infinity Saga” and will answer questions about the fallout of Endgame and what’s next for the franchise. What about that plot hole that even got the Far From Home stars confused about the time jump?

Audiences in China spent $614 million on Endgame tickets so they’ll want to know how Far From Home plays out. Plus, avoiding spoilers for a week will be easier on us than it would be for them to avoid spoilers for two months.

Spider-Man: Far From Home will see Peter Parker enjoying a fun European vacation with his friends before Nick Fury decides to crash it and ask for his help in taking down the Elementals. Spidey will team up with Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio, who is a “good guy” version of the villain from the Multiverse.

The movie is looking at a $120 million opening weekend in U.S. and Canada after breaking a trailer record for Sony. Far From Home swings into theaters domestically on July 2.

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Stephen King Drops F-Bomb Over How Great Pet Sematary Is

Stephen King Drops F-Bomb Over How Great Pet Sematary Is

Stephen King is never shy with his opinions. Just ask The Shining. But the good news is he thinks the new Pet Sematary movie is "fucking great!" This is the second movie to adapt his 1983 horror novel, following the 1989 film.

Critics have already seen the 2019 Pet Sematary and the reactions have been very positive. King seems to agree, particularly appreciating the maturity of the film:

It’s fucking great! It’s a really good movie. It’s a grown-up, adult kind of movie. It’s not like 12 semi-clad teens get killed in a summer camp. In this particular time frame, you know, there’ve been several movies that have been successful. Horror movies like Jordan Peele’s Get Out last year. And then I think when Us opens, I think it’s gonna be big. I think it’s gonna be huge. Those are like adult-type fantasies.

Stephen King must've shared those quotes a while before EW posted them, since by now Us has come out and it was indeed big -- with a bigger-than-expected opening. Horror is huge right now. Pet Sematary isn't expected to have a huge box office opening opposite Shazam! but it should pull in respectable numbers. The strong word-of-mouth can't hurt.

Stephen King also reiterated he's OK with the 2019 Pet Sematary changing one aspect of the film -- which was already revealed in the trailer so it's not really a spoiler -- that the older girl is resurrected this time and not the little boy.

It’s something different. They did a good job. Boy, I saw all the stuff that came online when people realized that it was Ellie rather than Gage that got run over in the road, and I’m thinking like, “Man, these people…” It’s so nuts. You can take Route 301 and go to Tampa, or you could take Route 17 and go to Tampa. But both times, you’re gonna come out at Tampa! [Laughs] You know what I’m saying? It didn’t change anything for me. I thought, “Okay, I understand why they did it, because it’s maybe easier to work with a zombie when she’s a little girl, [rather] than a toddler.”

Stephen King said, in general, he's fine with stories changing details -- if, in his opinion, it works for the story:

I’m really kind of mercenary about all this. My idea is, “If it works, it’s golden. If it doesn’t work, you know, Jesus Christ, why did you change it?” I mean, I’ve seen changes in stuff that’s been done to my work where I just throw up my hands and I say, “Why? Why did you do that? You had a book. You had a blueprint you could’ve gone by.”

It's true. There are good Stephen King adaptations, bad Stephen King adaptations, and a whole lot in between with a mix of both in the same project.

Read the whole Q&A for a lot more from Stephen King. Pet Sematary opens this coming Friday, April 5. And don't forget we also have It Chapter 2, Doctor Sleep, Castle Rock Season 2, The Stand, and more King adaptations still to come. He never stops!

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Watch A Supercut Of Every John Wick Kill

Watch A Supercut Of Every John Wick Kill

John Wick, a.k.a. Baba Yaga, is the most feared assassin in the criminal underworld. If you interfere with his mission, you’re going down and almost certainly won’t get back up. With John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum finally hitting theaters this weekend, we’ve put together this supercut video of all the people John Wick has killed onscreen so far. Alas, you’ll still have leave the carnage he unleashed during his Impossible Task to the imagination.

From shooting adversaries in the head to stabbing them with a pencil, there’s no shortage of ways for John Wick to slay someone. By the video’s end, Keanu Reeves’ deadly character has racked up 202 kills. Needless to say that number will rise once John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum comes out.

All of this bloodshed could have been avoided had Iosef Tarasov and his buddies had just refrained from breaking into John Wick’s house to steal his car and kill his dog, the one thing his recently deceased wife left him. John had already killed enough people to fill up several lifetimes, and he’d spent the last four years living in bliss and far way from darkness.

But no, these idiots unwisely came into the picture, and with the grief of losing Helen still fresh on his heart, John Wick dished out hell on Iosef, his father Viggo and anyone remotely connected to them… well, except Kevin Nash’s Francis. He correctly decided to “take the night off” when John offered the opportunity.

Of course, that’s just covering the first movie, which ended with John Wick bringing a new dog back home. At the beginning of John Wick: Chapter 2, after he retrieved his stolen car, John was content to return to his quiet life, but Santino D’Antonio, the man who helped John with his Impossible Task, got in the way.

Santino demanded John make good on the marker he gave him, blowing up John’s house when the protagonist initially refused to comply with his demands. Making matters worse, even after John traveled to Italy to kill Gianna D’Antonio, Santino opened a $7 million contract on John to wrap up loose ends. The only way John saw fit to end this was to gun Santino down on Continental grounds, which is a big no-no in this crowd.

Which brings us to John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, where John is now on the run because assassins are after the now-$14 million contract Santino’s associates on the High Table have put out. Making matters worse is that John has also been declared excommunicado, meaning he’s lost all his underworld privileges and access.

So how will John Wick fare against this latest round of people trying to kill him? In the eyes of his friend Winston, the odds are about even. It’s already clear that John will manage to get out of New York, but it remains to be seen just how many bodies he’ll drop both in the Big Apple and elsewhere in the world.

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum opens in theaters on May 17, but if you’re wondering what movies are hitting the silver screen after that, be sure to browse through our 2019 release schedule.

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Why Shaft Is Changing The Relationship Between Samuel L. Jackson And Richard Roundtree's Characters

Why Shaft Is Changing The Relationship Between Samuel L. Jackson And Richard Roundtree's Characters

Back when Samuel L. Jackson first took up the mantle of Shaft in director John Singleton’s 2000 reboot, John Shaft II’s relationship with Richard Roundtree’s John Shaft was that of a nephew and an uncle. It may not have been what folks were expecting back then, as typically two generations of character would be assumed to follow a straight line of parent and child, but it’s what worked back in the days of that first reboot.

Now however, that relationship is about to assume the more traditional path, as director Tim Story’s Shaft reboot has retconned John and John II to be father and son. An interesting choice to make 19 years later, granted, but when CinemaBlend was on hand for a set visit early last year, the question was put into the room asking why that decision was made at this point in time.

The answer we got, courtesy of Samuel L. Jackson himself, was the following:

That choice is because they want three generations, in terms of grandfather, father, and son. And it’s not unusual, strangely enough, in black families for somebody to think their ‘uncle’ was their uncle.

With no further films existing between Shaft 2000 and Shaft 2019, there should thankfully be no issues involving continuity in the extended run of the franchise. That having been said, it’s a pretty interesting decision to make the previous two generations of John Shaft father and son. But looking at the story for Shaft on the whole, it makes total sense.

John Shaft II is trying to protect his son JJ (played by Jessie T. Usher), as well as teach him the ropes of the family’s private investigator game. After 25 years of being separated from his son and Maya, the woman who raised JJ and still holds a special place in John II’s heart (played by Regina Hall), he’s getting reacquainted with the family.

Bringing John Shaft I into the mix, and as John II’s father, only makes sense when you look at Shaft as an action comedy that literally brings the family together. During the set visit we took part in early last year, we saw a sizzle reel of footage that showed us bits and pieces of the film that gave us a taste of the tone the film was aiming for. The decision to bring in three generations of Shaft men is one that totally works, as the comic energy shown in both that reel, and the trailer for Shaft, confirms this team-up is a wise one.

Should Shaft’s latest reboot happen to do well enough, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if this family matter sparked another entry into this already legendary canon. In which case, it’ll be interesting to see if any other family members in the Shaft family tree find their way into this ever-growing picture.

Shaft is in theaters on June 14th, and we’ll have more coverage as we get closer to the film’s release date. So, be sure to stay tuned to us here at CinemaBlend.

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