Chris Hemsworth Completely Improvised One Of Thor's Funniest Moments
When you think of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you might not think of improvisation as being central to its success. In fact, extemporaneous additions seem like the complete opposite of Kevin Feige's approach to establishing his gargantuan blockbuster franchise. The Marvel Studios head and his cohorts meticulously plan out each so-called "phase" of the MCU, carefully charting a course for their cinematic saga ahead of time.
Recently, however, this approach hasn't worked so well, with Feige and co. bombarding us with Marvel media, ultimately proving that too much of the MCU is essentially the franchise's Kryptonite. But for a long time, the plan was very much working. The Marvel machine was churning out hit after hit, with "Avengers: Endgame" and its record-breaking box office marking the apex of Marvel Studios' success. In that sense, deviating from the plan just doesn't seem to fit with the MCU ethos. But improvisation has actually formed a big part of the production process on many of the franchise's movies, especially when it comes to the comedy which has been so integral to those films' success.
While the MCU brand of humor has become somewhat grating of late, with writers seemingly willing to lean more on goofs and gags than actually telling a worthwhile story, for a long time the trademark Marvel humor was a crucial part of the franchise's appeal. Marvel kept things lighthearted and you knew that was part of the deal. Joss Whedon helped cement that approach when he brought his comedic sensibility to "The Avengers" in 2012, which then seemed to inform subsequent Marvel films' humor. But Whedon was just part of the story. The actors themselves have arguably helped shape MCU humor just as much, and a lot of that has come from improvisation.
Thor's hammer on a hook moment was all improvised
Look, there are more than enough examples of MCU jokes that didn't age well, and it's easy to criticize the MCU's attempts at humor when their latest paltry offerings can't seem to tell a decent story. But that doesn't mean there haven't been some amusing comedic moments throughout the franchise — a lot of which were completely improvised.
Most recently, we had Chris Pratt delivering the MCU's first F-bomb with an impromptu line in "Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3." But there's a long history of improv in the saga. A quirky line in "Avengers: Infinity War," for example, came from actors Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans, who decided during filming that Thor and Captain America's reunion should come with a few good-natured barbs thrown in. This wasn't Hemsworth's first time improvising on-set, either. As Kevin Feige told Gizmodo back in 2017, the Aussie actor's penchant for comedic improv actually formed the basis of the third Thor movie, "Thor: Ragnarok":
"With ['Ragnarok'], [director] Taika [Waititi] takes a little page out of the little moments in the other Thor films where [Chris] Hemsworth is funny. [Saying] 'Another!' in the first 'Thor' movie. Him, which was his idea and his improv, hanging his hammer on a coat hook in 'The Dark World,' and that continued with some of the things he did in Age of Ultron."
The moment Feige refers to in "Thor: The Dark World" comes when Thor, in full costume and carrying his hammer, Mjolnir, enters an apartment and hangs his enchanted implement on a rack alongside some very normal-looking coats and hats. It seems this whole thing was Hemsworth just riffing in the moment, hinting at the more comedic route his character would take going forward.
MCU humor ain't what it used to be
It's not as if hanging a magic hammer on a coat hook is some sort of inspired moment that changed the trajectory of the MCU forever. But these little moments used to be a lot more delightful in movies that otherwise had a decent story and some affecting drama. Rather than seeming lazy or as if the writers were relying on humor to carry a lackluster story, these lighthearted moments served to endear us to the characters and, for the most part, it worked.
It's also interesting, in the context of Thor specifically, to think about these moments ultimately defining the trajectory of the character going forward. Whereas playing up Thor's playful side worked well for "Ragnarok," that ultimately led to the shaky attempt to recapture lightning in a bottle that was "Thor: Love and Thunder." As /Film's Josh Spiegel wrote in his review, "Some of the jokes are just lazy [...] Then there are largely soulless one-liners, as when Valkyrie, upon seeing Thor destroy the ceiling of a New Asgard building, says 'I'm going to invoice you for that.'"
For whatever reason, then, director Taika Waititi nailed the focus on humor with "Ragnarok" but bungled it with "Love and Thunder." It's true that Waititi hasn't been having the best time of late — just look at his disastrous 2023 sports movie "Next Goal Wins" — so perhaps it's less about the focus on humor and more about the director. But there's no doubt the comedy that once seemed so organic and worked so well for the MCU has long seemed cheesy and in need of reinvention or ditching altogether. Maybe let Chris Hemsworth just improv his way through the next one and see what happens.