With Taika Waititi's long-awaited Flash Gordon project having shifted from an animated movie to a live-action film, the filmmaker should cast Chris Hemsworth in the title role. The actor first proved he had comedic chops in Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok, which was heavily inspired by the 1980 film adaptation of the classic pulp comic strip. Beyond being a sure-fire way to draw additional interest to the project, it would also be a fitting way to bring together Hemsworth and The Suicide Squad's Waititi once more.
First published in 1934 as a competitor to the science-fiction comic strip Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon centered around the adventures of the titular athlete, who was a star polo player and a graduate of Yale University. Drawn into deep space along with his girlfriend, Dale Arden, Flash became stranded on the planet Mongo and had many adventures among the various exotic cultures occupying the planet, continually fighting the tyrant of Mongo, Ming the Merciless. The comics have been adapted into live-action television series and cartoons, but the 1980 live-action film remains the most famous interpretation of Flash Gordon, largely due to the film's cult status and a soundtrack by Queen. 20th Century Fox and Disney have been trying to reboot the Flash Gordon brand over the past decade but have had no success so far.
Hopes were high when it was announced that Taiki Waititi had been brought on to write the screenplay for an animated Flash Gordon movie, which has now become a live-action production, according to the film's producers. While a director has not been attached to the project yet, it seems likely that Waititi would take the job if it were offered to him, as the 1980 Flash Gordon is one of his favorite films. Waititi also has a well-deserved reputation for not liking to play it safe with his creative projects, having written and directed the diversely reviewed Jojo Rabbit, which is about a young boy in WWII Germany, whose imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler. Given those factors, fans of the original film could be fairly certain that Waititi would honor the original movie while still trying to put his own spin on the material. However, casting Chris Hemsworth in the title role would be a smart move beyond his past record of working well with Waititi.
While known for playing stoic, tough-guy characters early in his career, Chris Hemsworth has proven himself to be quite the comedic actor in recent years. Apart from his more humorous take on Thor in Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok and the Avengers movies which followed, he has also shown off his comedic timing in the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot and 2019's Men In Black: International. Any Flash Gordon movie attempting to emulate the tone of the 1980 film would require a leading man who could look the part of a star athlete but also manage the stilted dialogue inspired by the classic comics with a straight face and a wink to the audience. Hemsworth's work has proven him capable of such a performance.
It seems obvious that a Taika Waititi helmed Flash Gordon reboot starring Chris Hemsworth as the legendary "savior of the universe" would be a license to print money. However, it should be noted that the project is still in the early stages and that Waititi is still reportedly working on writing the script and has not yet agreed to direct the film as well. It should also be noted that both Waititi and Hemsworth are quite busy in the immediate future, with Waititi writing and directing a new Star Wars movie and Hemsworth signed on for a sequel to Extraction and a biopic about professional wrestler Hulk Hogan. Given that, it may be some time before this dream project sees the light, even if the stars align to make it so.