The MCU actors are known for their close-knit sense of camaraderie that extends beyond the film set. Mark Ruffalo provided further proof of that friendship when he posted images on Instagram from the sets of Avengers: Endgame featuring Chris Hemsworth in his ‘Fat Thor’ get up, with the following message for Hemsworth on his 37th birthday.
Hope you are spending your birthday well, brother! (Maybe not partying as hard as the second pic though…)
The first of the two pictures features Mark Ruffalo wearing his mo-cap suit while Hemsworth is sporting his unkempt look from the film. The second image has Hemsworth lying prone on the ground, the bulging gut of his fat suit taking up most of the frame.
Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk and Chris Hemsworth as Thor have appeared in every Avengers movie till date, and also teamed up for a joint adventure in Thor: Ragnarok. Their characters share a close bond in the movies thanks to their similar power sets, their hot-headed natures when in superhero mode, and the struggle with guilt that both share over past actions.
After Thor cut off all contact with the rest of the heroes following the events of Avengers: Infinity War, it was Banner who set out to find him, and who convinced Fat Thor to return to the Avengers for one last-ditch attempt to right the wrongs from Thanos’ snap.
It was also Banner who first got to see Thor in his fat avatar in Avengers: Endgame following the Thunder God’s losing battle with depression. While promoting the film, Hemsworth had spoken about his experience wearing the latex skinsuit that added several layers of fat to his sculpted physique, and how it had affected his performance.
“It weighed around 40kg so it was very heavy. It’s a silicon sort of prosthetic suit with a zip at the back, and at any moment people would come up and rub my stomach. I had weights in my wrist and my ankles to make me move differently, but I enjoyed the transformation and freedom to do whatever I wanted with the character.”
It is not known whether Ruffalo and Hemsworth will be appearing in any new MCU movies together, with the way things ended for their characters in the last Avengers movie.
Banner has finally made peace with his green alter ego, and wishes to devote the rest of his life to his scientific work. Thor has joined the Guardians of the Galaxy in their journey to the far reaches of the cosmos. And with the departure of Iron Man, Captain American, and Black Widow, the original team of Avengers is all but dissolved.
Even if the two never meet again on an MCU film set, at least Hemsworth and Ruffalo have the pictures and their memories of their time spent together in the past. In the meantime, Hemsworth will be appearing in his next solo movie set within the MCU, which is Thor: Love and Thunder, while Ruffalo is rumored to be a part of the Disney+ series starring She-Hulk.