Chris Hemsworth on Thor's role in Avengers: Age of Ultron

Currently seen tackling cyber terrorists in Michael Mann's Blackhat, actor Chris Hemsworth soon returns to his signature role as Thor in Avengers: Age of Ultron. 

The Marvel adventure is the follow-up to Joss Whedon's blockbusting Avengers Assemble, and sees Thor reunite with Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), Hulk/Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).

The Norse God of Thunder's last appearance saw him flying solo in 2013's somewhat underwhelming Thor: The Dark World, in which he sought to save the universe from total destruction.

Age of Ultron sees Thor face an equally potent threat, as he must once again reunite with his fellow Avengers to destroy villainous robot Ultron (James Spader). A creation of Stark's, Ultron is originally envisaged as part of a peacekeeping plan, but ultimately looks to obliterate humanity. No pressure, then.

In an interview with Hitfix, Hemsworth says the story ties into modern day issues. "All the stories are relevant to what's going on in the world," he explains, "as far as, you know, the exponential growth of technology and artificial intelligence and then the questions of good versus bad in the AI world. [Joss has] managed to bring all of The Avengers back in and give them a relevant reason to be there and justified this sort of conflict."

The previous, standalone Thor movies largely centred around the title character's fractious relationship with treacherous Asgardian half-brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston). However, following the events of Avengers Assemble, Hemsworth explains that Thor has now acclimatised to life on Planet Earth – and, as with his fellow Avengers, it's now incumbent on him to protect humanity.

"He's part of the team," Hemsworth says. "This is his home for the moment. The initial threat and attack from Ultron is personal because it's at all of The Avengers, and Thor begins to see a bigger picture here about what this threat could be potentially."

Click here to read the full Hitfix interview with Chris Hemsworth – it's excellent stuff, especially Hemsworth's fleeting reference to Thor's brewing conflict with Tony Stark.

Avengers: Age of Ultron is released on 23rd April.