Chris Hemsworth’s Thor Legacy May Be Ending at Marvel as New Franchise Rises Up

in Marvel, Movies & TV

Chris Hemsworth as Thor, shouting "No!"

Credit: Marvel Studios

Chris Hemsworth’s legacy at Marvel Studios may be over after new information comes to light about his new franchise.

Chris Hemsworth shirtless as Thor
Credit: Marvel Studios

It’s hard to believe that Australian actor Chris Hemsworth was a relative unknown before his leading role in Marvel Studios’ Thor (2011). Directed by Kenneth Branagh, Thor is part of Phase One of Kevin Feige’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, along with the likes of Iron Man (2008), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), and Joss Whedon’s $1 billion crossover smash, The Avengers (2012).

Since his first outing in the MCU, Hemsworth has gone on to be one of the franchise’s leading and fan-favorite stars, appearing in the rest of the Avengers movies — Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019) — as well as his own quartet of films, Thor, Thor: The Dark World (2013), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022).

Chris Hemsworth as Thor Odinson talking to Natalie Portman's Mighty Thor
Credit: Marvel Studios

It was in Thor: Ragnarok, directed by Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows, Our Flag Means Death), that Hemsworth brought a quietly rebooted version of the God of Thunder to fans, leaning more into his comedic chops and relinquishing the serious, brooding undertone of the character. This became a continued facet of Thor following Ragnarok and further established Hemsworth as one of the MCU’s most compelling and popular components.

Since Love and Thunder, though, all has been quiet on the Thor front. There have been whispers of a fifth entry into the Thor film series, but there have also been swirling rumors, namely the involvement of Waititi as director.

Taika Waititi with Chris Hemsworth on Thor set
Credit: Marvel Studios

The current climate of superhero fatigue has made audiences more and more critical of Feige’s MCU franchise. Hindered by factors like the major overhaul of Daredevil: Born Again, and, by extension, the whole of the television business, as well as the controversy and lawsuit of Kang the Conqueror actor Jonathan Majors (Loki, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania), the MCU’s future is seemingly in jeopardy, despite allegedly having plans to take the superhero saga into the next decade.

And as Marvel’s insider politics become public knowledge thanks to recent reports, Hemsworth’s Thor franchise legacy may be left with his fourth film.

Chris Hemsworth as Thor in Avengers: Endgame with both hammers Mjolnir and Stormbreaker
Credit: Marvel Studios

New information has come to light about the action star’s other major franchise, Netflix’s Extraction. The first Extraction movie was released in 2020 and saw Hemsworth star as Tyler Rake, a former Australian Special Air Services Regiment officer turned black-ops mercenary. Sam Hargrave directed the epic action thriller, with Joe Russo (of Anthony and Joe Russo, AKA the Russo Brothers) penning the screenplay. The Russos also worked on the story and produced the Netflix film.

Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, Extraction went on to become the streaming service’s most-watched original film ever, with 99 million hours watched in its first week of release. In 2023, Netflix released Extraction 2, with many of the same production team on board for the sequel.

Chris Hemsworth as Tyler Rake in 'Extraction'
Credit: Netflix

Related: Taika Waititi Reportedly Replaced for ‘Thor 5’

At present, Extraction holds a critic Rotten Tomatoes score of 61% and an audience score of 71%, with Extraction 2 sitting at 79% and 85% for critic and audience scores, respectively. For comparison, Hemsworth’s most recent Marvel movie has a 63% critic score and 75% audience score.

Could the deterioration of the MCU leave Hemsworth focusing on the Extraction franchise? Well, Netflix executive Scott Stuber has revealed new information about the future of the action series.

Chris Hemsworth fighting as Tyler Rake in 'Extraction'
Credit: Netflix

“You know, you’ve got to find the right thing. I think the second one was so good because it was emotional and complex. It kind of reminds me of when I worked on the Bourne movies. Tony Gilroy did such a good job on the second one of making it emotional and making that kind of activate around Franka [Potente’s] death. So, this one had the same kind of familial background around Chris [Hemsworth’s] motivation,” Stuber, who is the Head of Film at Netflix, told Collider.

Stuber continued: “Getting Idris [Elba] into the franchise was an interesting way to kind of evolve it. So we’re waiting on the script and working hard, but aspiration would be great to get it back. I mean, what those guys have done has been really great in that franchise.”

Chris Hemsworth Thor in 'Thor: Love and Thunder'
Credit: Marvel Studios

Related: Marvel Names the Replacements for Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor Amid MCU Overhaul, Report Claims

So, as Marvel Studios remains coy on how the future of the MCU will look and hasn’t confirmed whether it will feature Thor at all (there have been reports that Marvel is considering the return of the original six Avengers and “Thor Will Return” was present at the end of Love and Thunder, but who knows whether those mean anything anymore), it seems this Extraction 3 update is a positive sign that the Hollywood star’s other franchise is blossoming for Netflix.

Would you like to see Thor star Chris Hemsworth return as Tyler Rake in Extraction 3? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!

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