When Avengers actor Chris Hemsworth hosted Saturday Night Live back in 2015, he turned down a skit that might have ended up generating a fair amount of controversy due to its racial politics. SNL star and writer Michael Che (he is best known as one of the anchors on the Weekend Update segment) spoke on Late Night With Seth Myers about a sketch that he pitched that ultimately received a no from Hemsworth saying:
“My favorite sketches are like really racially charged. Like Chris Hemsworth hosted and I wanted to do a sketch where the Avengers saved the day but in the process Thor accidentally kills an unarmed black teenager. He said it wouldn’t help with tickets. I thought it would have helped with tickets!”
It is pretty easy to see why Hemsworth would have been uncomfortable performing this one. At the time he was promoting Avengers: Age of Ultron and having Thor get involved in a dark and likely controversial sketch probably wouldn’t fly with his employers at the Mouse House. Furthermore, a lot of people might have seen this sketch to be just simply in bad taste since it had the potential to be making light of the issue of police brutality.
Thor did end up making an appearance in the episode in a far more safe sketch titled “Avengers News Report.” Che’s idea never made it past the pitching phrase.
As far as Marvel fans are concerned, they’re probably wondering if they’ll ever get to see Hemsworth as Thor again after the next Avengers movies, as Hemsworth has hinted he’s taking a break from Thor:
“Look, we just have to concentrate on [Avengers] now. So who knows? There are 76 cast members in these two Avengers films. They will be the biggest films of all time, far bigger than my character. It’s a conversation for further down the road, if it was going to happen.”
Interesting stuff.
So, what do you think? Would a sketch like this have been in bad taste? Let us know in the comments!