2009's Star Trek helped put Chris Hemsworth on the movie map, as he spun a small, but crucial role as George (father of James T) Kirk into a career that has seen him become a Marvel hero, a goofy receptionist, a huntsman and a hacker, among other roles. Last year, it was reported that he had been offered a return for George to the Trek universe, but that the studio hadn't met his salary demand. According to Hemsworth himself, it was more to do with the script.
Though George Kirk famously dies as the starship Kelvin explodes around him in JJ Abrams' first Trek outing, no one is ever really gone in science fiction, and there was talk of a time-travel story or some other way to finally have George and his son (played in the current movies by Chris Pine). With the casts' contracts up, Pine and his fellow stars had been negotiating new deals to return for a still-developing fourth movie, but there had been a sticking point, and for Hemsworth it wasn't the cash.
"I didn’t feel like we landed on a reason to revisit that yet,” he tells Variety. “I didn’t want to be underwhelmed by what I was going to bring to the table."
While we're sure he also commands considerably more than his brief appearance in the first Abrams film, it's reassuring that he's not looking to just make some easy money. Talking of cosmic adventures, he's happy to stick around the MCU for now as Thor, but doesn't know what the future holds for the character. "I’d still love to do more, to be honest," he says. "And I don’t know what the plan is. I feel like we’ve opened up such a different character. I feel more energized for the possibility of where it could go. But I’ll use that in other places and other characters if it’s the end here." For more from Hemsworth, head to Variety's site.
The actor will next show up in Men In Black: International, which is out on 14 June.
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