It might come as a bit of a shock to some Marvel fans but it's likely that Chris Hemsworth will be leaving his long-standing role as Thor after the fourth Avengers movie. His contract is at an end, so it seems the ball is entirely in his court for future Thor appearances.

Chris Hemsworth at the Golden Globes after-partyChris Hemsworth at the Golden Globes after-party

The 34-year-old Aussie recently completed filming in Atlanta for 'Avengers 4' - the untitled follow-up to 'Avengers: Infinity War' which is coming later this year. He confessed in an interview that he was 'exhausted' after a 'non-stop' couple of years of playing the Norse God of Thunder, but does that really mean this is the end of line?

'Contractually, right now - yeah, this is it', he told USA Today. 'I'm done. I won't be playing the character again. It's sort of a scary thought. This really seemed like this never-ending thing. And now it's potentially finishing.'

However, it seems that 'potentially' is the word to focus on in that statement. He admits that, despite his contract coming to an end, he's still been talking to 'Thor: Ragnarok' director Taika Waititi about the possibilities of a fourth Thor flick. 

'[It was like] 'What could we do with 4? We could do this and this.' We were throwing ideas around', he confessed. 'I felt like we re-invented him. There is a bigger platform now to continue if we want to.'

On the other hand, it seems that Marvel president Kevin Feige is most certainly not ready to think about Thor's future just yet. 'He said, 'Look, we just have to concentrate on [Avengers] now'', Chris recalled. 'So who knows? There are 76 cast members in these two Avengers films. They will be the biggest films of all time, far bigger than my character. It's a conversation for further down the road, if it was going to happen.'

Chris first played the Asgardian warrior in 2011's 'Thor', and has since reprised the character almost yearly in 2012's 'The Avengers', 2013's 'Thor: The Dark World', 2015's 'Avengers: Age of Ultron', briefly in 2016's 'Doctor Strange' and last year's 'Thor: Ragnarok'. 

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'Avengers: Infinity War' is coming on May 4th 2018, with the next instalment to follow in May 2019.