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Warning: This article contains spoilers for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.
Typecasting is challenging for an actor to overcome: Once you’ve proven yourself in a certain kind of role, that can be all you wind up doing. Case in point, Chris Hemsworth, whose turn as Thor made him a staple of the MCU and a stalwart hero for years to come. Since he blew up in 2011’s Thor, he’s played heroes in films including 12 Strong, Rush, Men in Black: International, Extraction, and Extraction 2. While he’s always impressive, they’re variations of the same man we’ve come to love in the MCU.
Hemsworth has taken a wildly unexpected turn in George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road prequel Furiosa, leaving behind a long run of heroic roles for a turn at the dark side, plunging into pure evil in his role as Dementus. Dementus is the leader of a vicious group in endless search of abundance, tired from years of traipsing through sand. His group kidnaps a young Furiosa (Alyla Browne), and by his order, brutally murders her mother (Charlee Fraser), making Furiosa watch every second. Hemsworth’s Dementus is a man raised on a steady diet of hatred and brutality, who claims to want nothing more than the prosperity of the people who worship him. It’s not only a surprising performance, but it’s a phenomenal one, playing a villain with considerable dimension, rage, fury, wit, intelligence, and some of the best lines in the movie, lacing his words with equal parts jubilation and malevolence.
Hemsworth’s Dementus looks like a distant cousin of his mighty Thor, though more like a Norse god who blew himself up to get to Valhalla. At one point, his cape is covered in red dust – a fun callback to Hemsworth’s Asgardian roots. Yet there are distinct physical differences between the characters, as Dementus sports a large, wide prosthetic nose, and his long hair and formidable beard have been frayed by the scorching sun and sand – this man has spent a lifetime in the Wasteland. That Hemsworth can exact such a brilliant performance behind a garish prosthetic and a hideous wig only further exemplifies his excellence.
The strangest thing about Dementus is that a teddy bear is chained to his outfit. It belonged to his "little ones" before they were seemingly killed, and the bear is all that ties him to his past. Dementus is a man catapulted into cruelty, and the teddy is a small yet humble reminder of the man he once was. But don’t let that sweetness fool you: This may make it seem that Dementus is a sympathetic figure, but Hemsworth plays him with a menacing fury and cocky confidence that makes him detestable. Yet this is no one-dimensional performance.
Start your engines
Hemsworth makes Dementus even more thrilling when he’s vulnerable, activating an adrenaline that makes him even more formidable. We’ve seen how menacing Dementus is when surrounded by henchmen, and since he’s had a lifetime of yes-men surrounding him, you’d expect him to be quite different when he’s at risk. In one pivotal scene, when Furiosa has the upper hand, sniping his men one after the other, we see how Dementus came to a position of such power. Under duress, Hemsworth darts his eyes back and forth, looking for something – anything – that could save him.
The fear drains from his face as he springs into action, grabbing his closest ally and using him as a human shield to draw out Furiosa. The plan works, and Dementus wipes the blood of his henchman off his eyes and shoots Furiosa. It’s all done so quickly and without even a whisper of hesitation, as if it’s muscle memory. Sacrificing others for his survival comes as natural to Dementus as breathing. When his back is (literally) against the wall, he’s still ten steps ahead. Even when an explosion sends him hanging off a ledge above a fiery pit, Hemsworth instills an eerie calm in Dementus. Alone, his confidence remains, and Hemsworth never lets that mask slip. It seems that nothing can shake Dementus for more than a mere instant, making his malice all the more tangible.
Furiosa is a massive, sprawling film, and there are long stretches where Dementus is nowhere to be seen. That doesn’t stop writers George Miller and Nick Lahtouris from giving the villain a robust arc. We see him as a beloved, borderline messianic leader. We see him lead with sheer brutality, peeling back the layers to reveal a man with a strategy equal to his exceptional physical prowess. We see that power and standing be stripped away from him as his rage metastasizes into madness as the colony he built turns against itself. Yet through his downward trajectory, Hemsworth is always commanding. There’s an undeniable fury in his eye and a ruthlessness that never ceases, no matter how far he falls from grace. It’s exciting to watch someone succeed when playing against type, but few do it with such gravitas and success that Hemsworth accomplishes in Furiosa. He may have played Thor in 8 different MCU films, firmly establishing himself as a mighty hero, but in just one film, Hemsworth enshrines himself as a truly legendary villain. Perhaps, like fellow MCU alum Robert Downey Jr., Oscar glory is in his future. What a lovely day that would be.
Furiosa is out in theaters now. For more on the Mad Max movie, check out our spoiler-filled guides to:
- Where does Furiosa take place on the Mad Max timeline?
- Everything we know about the Furiosa streaming date
- The Furiosa ending explained
- Furiosa Mad Max cameo explained
- Furiosa post-credits scene explained
