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Chris Hemsworth in Talks to Star in Men in Black Reboot/Spinoff
Chris Hemsworth is in early talks to star in Sony’s Men in Black reboot/spinoff. Starting in 1997 with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, Sony successfully found a new franchise to play with. Secret agents working to protect the planet from intergalactic threats gave Men in Black a great mixture of humor and action. The movie spawned two sequels, the latter of which came in 2012, but Men in Black 3 was not the franchise revival Sony was looking for.
Instead, the studio turned their attention to spinoffs to bring back the mysterious alien fighting group. The idea of crossing MIB over with 21 Jump Street fizzled quickly, and has since left Sony developing a complete reboot. That project finally got some good news when F. Gary Gray was revealed to be directing, and it may now have its star.
THR reports Chris Hemsworth is in early negotiations to star in the Men in Black spinoff for Sony. Hemsworth will be playing the leading role, which will be one part of an ensemble. This report states that the movie will take place in London this time around, with Hemsworth surrounded by two other agents. Sony is reportedly looking to add a black woman and an older man to Hemsworth’s team.
Hemsworth is now synonymous with his role as the God of Thunder in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but this could be exactly what he needs. With an uncertain fate looming in Avengers: Infinity War and Untitled Avengers, there’s no telling if he’ll ever return to play that role again. Attaching himself to another franchise is a great career move for Hemsworth, especially one that will allow him to use his now publicly known comedic skills.
From Sony’s perspective, they will be hoping that Hemsworth’s name will help attract large crowds following Thor: Ragnarok‘s great theatrical run. With this spinoff hitting theaters shortly after Avengers 4, moviegoers could be eager to see Hemsworth again very soon. There is, however, the undeniable fact that Hemsworth hasn’t been a major box office draw outside of the MCU. They’ll clearly be looking to change that, and the Men in Black IP should help that cause too. With two other major roles (plus villains and supporting) left to cast, there’s much more to come. But now that the studio appears to have found one of the film’s star, they can begin figuring out who would best fill out the rest of the team.
Additionally, setting the movie in London could be the first indication of how Sony plans to expand this franchise. By setting up multiple bases of operation around the globe, they could theoretically spin this franchise off in a number of new directions. It could also be an attempt to give Men in Black more appeal worldwide. All three installments to date have performed well across the globe, but there’s definitely room to grow, so hopefully Hemsworth and company can help the franchise do just that.
