Chris Pratt Jokes That Chris Hemsworth Should Stop Working out After Signing on for Next ‘Thor’

Chris Pratt is officially joining Chris Hemsworth in the next Thor movie, and he is imploring his co-star to stop working out. Pratt’s casting was made official last week, and over the weekend, Hemsworth shared a photo of himself flipping a heavy tire on Instagram. Pratt thinks that Hemsworth needs to cool it with the weights before they appear on screen together again.

In Hemsworth’s photo, he was shirtless as he flipped a padded tire on a sunlit driveway. His physique was on full display, and he playfully captioned the shot: “Cheat day today. Decided to treat myself to this extra large donut, gush it’s heavy.” However, Pratt may have stolen his snark with his much-liked comment: “Just heard from my trainer and he needs you to stop working out. Since we’re gonna be in the same movie and everything he doesn’t want me to stand next to you if you look like that. So I’m gonna need you to put on 25 pounds real quick. Cool, thanks.”

“Don’t worry mate. We can just both use the same fancy filter that’s been applied here. It’s called InstaShred,” Hemsworth responded. Of course, fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe know that there is another reason for Hemsworth to take it easy on the exercise. In the latest crossover film, Avengers: Endgame, Thor gained a considerable amount of weight while he was experiencing a depressive episode. The change may carry over to at least part of the new film, Thor: Love and Thunder.

The movie is also likely to continue the burgeoning friendship between Thor, Pratt’s character Starlord, and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy. At the end of Endgame, fans saw Thor and the Guardians fly off together in search of adventure, leaving Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) to oversee the new settlement of Asgardian’s on earth. Thompson has also been officially cast in the new movie.

Thor: Love and Thunder will also feature the return of Natalie Portman to the MCU for the first time since Thor: The Dark World. Portman plays Jane Foster, a physicist and previously Thor’s love interest, though it is unclear where they stand now. Additionally, Christian Bale is joining the franchise here, though it is not clear what his role will be.

The new Thor movie will be directed by Taika Waititi, who had huge success with the God of Thunder in 2017. The movie is tentatively scheduled to release in February of 2022, though filming has yet to start on the project.