A recent interview with Radio 1’s Ali Plumb has resulted in pitting Aussie actors Hugh Jackman and Chris Hemsworth against one another. This won’t be Jackman’s first long-running beef with a fellow supe, as he famously has an ongoing feud with Ryan Reynolds. Now, Plumb has pointed out to Hemsworth that he has a chance of becoming the longest-running superhero, if he plays Thor for just…six more years.
Chris Hemsworth of course first played Thor in 2011, and has played the character seven times since, with him returning for an eighth time in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder. Hugh Jackman has also played Wolverine seven times, starting in 2000 and ending with 2017’s Logan.
Now that legacy sequels and cameos are all the rage, actors such as Tobey Maguire popping back for No Way Home makes records such as this complicated. But in terms of consistently playing a character without long breaks, it looks like Jackman is the man to beat. When Plumb asked Hems if he has the eyes on the target, Hems replied; “I wasn’t gonna, but now that you’ve put that in front of me, you make a good point. It’s only six years, I’ve come this far. To turn back now would just be a waste.”
Plumb says; “you better hope he (Jackman) doesn’t do a cameo in Deadpool 3” and Hemsworth says; “I’ll make some calls and make sure that doesn’t happen. I might put myself in Deadpool instead, that would be the offering I think, see if that passes.”
Hemsworth’s Thor is in a unique position in the MCU, as the only Avenger still going, in terms of the movies. Iron Man and Black Widow are sadly no more (RIP), Captain America is living his best life with Peggy in the 1940s, Hawkeye and the Hulk have (for now at least) spun off onto Disney Plus.
This phase of the MCU has been a weird blend of bringing in new characters to kick-start the next chapter, such as Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi, and Iman Vellani’s Ms. Marvel (who will be joining Brie Larson in the next Captain Marvel movie). But old characters such as Thor, Dr. Strange and even Black Widow (post-mortem) are still lingering on.
While we wait to see where things are heading, help clarify where we’re at by brushing up on Marvel’s Phase 4.