Marvel star Chris Hemsworth is a busy man, with the actor set to return to the MCU with this year’s Thor: Love and Thunder, play a scheming villain in Netflix’s Spiderhead, reprise the role of action hero Tyler Rake in Extraction 2, and join the world of Mad Max in the upcoming prequel Furiosa. Despite giving audiences more Hemsworth than they know what to do with, many are mostly looking forward to the actor donning the iconic mustache of wrestling legend Hulk Hogan. Well, speaking with Comicbook.com, Hemsworth has provided an update on the upcoming biopic and, sadly, it sounds like we might be waiting a while.
"That film's a while away. That's sort of in the development stage you know, and if that comes to fruition, great. [Director] Todd Phillips is brilliant. Haven't ripped any shirts off yet, but you'll be the first to hear about it when I do."
The Hulk Hogan biopic is due to be directed by Joker filmmaker Todd Phillips, and while not much has been officially revealed, the movie is expected to follow The Hulkster's rise through the Wrestling ranks during the 1980s, likely covering the explosion of Hulkamania in the WWF during the Rock 'n' Wrestling Era. The movie is likely to feature portrayals of other legends of the sport, including the likes of Roddy Piper, King Kong Bundy, Andre The Giant, Randy Savage, The Ultimate Warrior, and Sgt. Slaughter.
The Hulk Hogan project was first announced back in 2019, with Chris Hemsworth currently the only actor attached. The writer behind the movie, John Pollono, has provided some explanation as to why the Hulk Hogan story is “a while away” as Hemsworth put it, revealing last year that the pandemic has made shooting crowd scenes especially difficult. “I'm really excited to see the movie and hopefully — I don't know how COVID-friendly that movie would be to shoot cause they got like 30,000 people in the crowds in some of these scenes, so hope eventually they get to make it. I can't wait to see it someday," Pollono said.
Hulk Hogan Has Heaped Praise on the Casting of Chris Hemsworth
While it remains unknown when, or even if, we will ever see Chris Hemsworth enter the ring as Hulk Hogan, the wrestling icon himself has praised the casting of the Thor star. "My brother has that Hogan Pump on Jack, looks like he could slam Andre brother," the Hulkster said in response to an image of Hemsworth performing one of his patented workouts.
Speaking of workouts, Hemsworth has teased the sheer level of preparation necessary to bring Hulk Hogan to life, saying that the role will require him to “put on more size than [he ever has] before, even more than [he] put on for Thor.” Not only that, the biopic will test Hemsworth’s talents more than ever before in the acting department as well as the bench-pressing one. “And then there is the accent as well as the physicality and the attitude,” he continued. “I will also have to do a deep dive into the rabbit hole of the wrestling world, which I’m really looking forward to doing.”
Chris Hemsworth will first reprise the role of Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder, which is due for release on July 8, 2022, as part of Phase Four of the MCU.