Chris Hemsworth says playing Dementus in Mad Max prequel Furiosa was a "wonderful departure" from Thor, even though they share a similar costume detail

Chris Hemsworth is used to playing the hero as the MCU's Thor, but he takes on an antagonistic role in George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road prequel Furiosa. 

"Yeah, it was a real departure, and it was nice…" Hemsworth told EW. "I was about to say it was nice not to wear a cape, but... I did have a cape in this film. And it's red – or it becomes red eventually, as well. The absurdity of that."

In the MCU, the God of Thunder wears a long red cape on top of his signature armor. In Furiosa, however, Hemsworth plays the movie's villain: the Warlord Dementus, leader of the Biker Horde, who kidnaps a young Furiosa (portrayed, as an adult, by Anya Taylor-Joy) and takes her far away from her home and family. The movie, set before the events of 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road (in which Furiosa was played by Charlize Theron), then follows Furiosa's quest for vengeance against Dementus – and her determination to get back to her homeland at any cost. 

Hemsworth added that he brought up this similarity to director George Miller. "It's not intentional to be a comparison of Thor," the actor continued. "But I found a wonderful departure to it – to play the villain, transform, and inhabit a completely different physicality was a lot of fun. I loved it. And it was the real attraction."

Hemsworth brought a new approach to the role, too – he wrote journal entries as Dementus. "It was 2am one night. I was awake, and I just put pen to paper, and just started scribbling down thoughts and ideas as Dementus," he told Total Film. "I didn't think much of it. I went to sleep, and woke up, and was quite shocked at what came out of me in that half-asleep state. I went into rehearsal, and showed George [Miller], and we both went, 'That's it. That's the direction we've got to go.'"

Furiosa arrives in cinemas on May 24. In the meantime, check out our guide to the rest of this year's biggest movie release dates.