Why Chris Hemsworth Couldn’t Skip His Workouts Despite The Changes Made To Thor In Avengers: Endgame

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Why Chris Hemsworth Couldn’t Skip His Workouts Despite The Changes Made To Thor In Avengers: Endgame

Spoilers ahead for Avengers: Endgame! If you haven't seen it, look away.

Avengers: Endgame has been in theaters for nearly two weeks, and is making an insane profit at the box office. The cumulation of over a decade of filmmaking and 22 movies, the massive blockbuster delivered on fan expectations and then some. The Russo Brothers masterfully threw everything and the kitchen sink into Endgame, including a physical transformation for Thor.

Following the five year time jump during Endgame's first act, Rocket and Bruce Banner travel to New Asgard to get Thor to join their plan for the time heist. But the Avengers and audience were surprised to see Thor had gained quite a bit of weight, caught in a deep depression of mourning and guilt. Although Chris Hemsworth wasn't able to make much of a transformation himself. As The Russo Brothers explained on their recent appearance on CinemaBlend's ReelBlend podcast:

Anthony Russo: He was so ignited by the work that he had done with Taika in Ragnarok that he was definitely in a zone where he was really excited about being adventurous and edgy with what Thor could be and where he could go. I think the only downside for the whole experience for Hemsworth was that the fat suit was quite heavy. … We had to keep – the proximity of shooting these [two movies] was pretty tight.

Joe Russo: It didn’t allow him time to [stop working out]. Plus, we were doing reshoots on Infinity War while we were shooting Endgame.

Once again, the crazy shooting schedule of Infinity War and Endgame proved to be a challenging aspect of the massively successful blockbusters. The Russo Brothers filmed both projects at the same time, so Chris Hemsworth had to play Thor across multiple years in the MCU's timeline, and at varying levels of shape.

The Russo Brothers have previously been open about the challenges of scheduling their pair of Avengers movies. In order to get the massive cast together, the co-directors filmed Infinity War and Endgame back to back, therefore allowing actors the ability to work on other projects. This also meant that Chris Hemsworth didn't have the time to change his body for each movie. In fact, he was doing Infinity War reshoots while filming Endgame.

Joe and Anthony Russo's appearance on ReelBlend helped show just what a monumental challenge their helming of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame truly was. In addition to the dizzying task of scheduling, the co-directors also crafted a complicated and thrilling narrative that paid tribute to the OG members of the team.

Related: How Chris Hemsworth Gets In Shape For The Thor Movies

The change on Thor's physique was a physical reminder of the character's depression, also brought to life with Chris Hemsworth's performance as the God of Thunder. Thor lost all his loved ones throughout Marvel's first three phases, and felt tremendous guilt for not aiming for Thanos' head and killing the Mad Titan before he snapped his finger.

Thor's arc in Avengers: Endgame was focused on his feelings of self-loathing and depression. But after traveling back to Asgard and speaking with his mother during the Time Heist, Thor found himself. He was still worthy of wielding mjolnir, and took the hammer and reality stone back with him before the final battle with Thanos.

Despite packing on some pounds during his time as a Fortnite gamer, Thor was still able to bring the heat to Thanos. And given how heavy the suit was for Chris Hemsworth, it's safe to say that the mind-blowing finale was probably very exhausting to film for the actor. But he's down to clown as the God of Thunder, as was proven in Thor: Ragnarok.

You can catch Thor in Avengers: Endgame in theaters now. Be sure to check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies, and stay up to date with ReelBlend for more exclusive content.