Set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival next month, George Miller’s next installment in the Mad Max franchise will see Marvel star Chris Hemsworth play the antagonist Dementus.

Similar to his other notable roles, especially Thor in the Marvel universe, Hemsworth role in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga will be full of charm but will also have a layer of darkness to it.

However, despite Hemsworth’s popularity, thanks to the MCU, which pushed him to superstardom, Miller didn’t take his MCU performance into consideration for choosing him as Dementus.

George Miller Didn’t Thought of Chris Hemsworth as Dementus Until Meeting Him

Furiosa: A Mad Max | Warner Bros. Pictures
For a while, George Miller struggled to find the perfect fit for the character, despite having the script ready, and didn’t give thought to casting Chris Hemsworth as the film’s main antagonist.

But after having a far-reaching and multi-leveled conversation with the actor, Miller recognized the Aussie bloke had a lot more dimensions to him than he initially gave credit for.

Chris Hemsworth | Credit: Thor: Love and Thunder.
Speaking at CinemaCon on Monday, Miller elaborated:

“[I] never thought of Chris [Hemsworth] until we met and we talked. I realized he was somebody who has a lot more dimensions to him than I had initially thought. I think for me he is, as they say in Australia, the complete article.”

While we’ve already seen Hemsworth excelling as a charismatic figure several times before, with Dementus, we’ll get to witness a more twisted side of the Extraction star.

Chris Hemsworth Breaks Down His Character in Furiosa

Breaking down his villainous character in Furiosa, Hemsworth stressed that it was important for them to add spontaneity and darkness to Dementus alongside humor and wit.

Considering he’ll leading a horde of bikers across the wasteland, they wanted the character to have a sense of charisma to inspire and manipulate others while being “a twisted cruel character on one hand”.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga | Warner Bros. Pictures
He explained (via Entertainment Weekly):

“A twisted cruel character on one hand, but in order for him to lead this horde of bikers across the wasteland and inspire them… there needed to be an element of charisma,” he said.

“We wanted to interweave elements of charm and wit and humor, but there had to be a spontaneity to it… the way he moved, the way, he spoke was about manipulation, but also grabbing groups of people and saying, ‘I know what your problems are and have the answers to them.’”

While time will tell if this film could live up to the bar set by its predecessor, considered one of the greatest action films of all time, this could very much be one of Hemsworth’s best roles to date.