While each film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is noteworthy in its own right, some have had a greater impact than others. Captain America: Civil War is one of those, with so many superheroes in the Phase 3 launcher that it should have been dubbed Avengers 2.5. However, Chris Hemsworth’s Thor did not participate in the Civil War action, leading the actor to believe he was being dismissed by Marvel Studios.

“I remember being on the ‘Age of Ultron’ press tour, and everyone was talking about ‘Civil War,'” Hemsworth stated in Tara Bennett and Paul Terry’s new behind-the-scenes book “The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe”

The actor continued, “I was like, ‘What’s ‘Civil War’?’ I asked, ‘Are you doing a side project or something?’ They’re like, ‘Oh no, Captain America, y’know? The next one is ‘Civil War.’ I’m like, ‘Wait … Iron Man’s in that?’ And it’s like, ‘Yeah, but there’s not just Iron Man. There’s There’s Vision. There’s Spider-Man.'”

“What the hell am I doing?” Hemsworth remarked after hearing the news.

“They said, ‘You’re doing your own thing,'” the actor explained. “I thought, ‘This is it. I’m being written out.'”

It’s true that everyone was wondering what Thor would accomplish on his third solo journey at the time. But he wasn’t the only Avenger who was absent from Civil War; Mark Ruffalo (Hulk) was also missing.

Disney/Marvel

The superhero roster for Captain America: Civil War would eventually consist of 12 characters, with newcomers Black Panther and Spider-Man joining veteran characters like Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and Ant-Man. Meanwhile, Hulk and his “friend from work” Hulk were only referenced briefly in the film, despite the fact that, given their remarkable power levels, they would have certainly ended the conflict at the Leipzig Airport much sooner if they had taken part. Interestingly, neither Thor nor Hulk appeared in the first “Civil War” comics tale, as the former was still alive at the time and the latter had crashed-landed on Sakaar after being banished from Earth by the Illuminati. During the struggle, however, Iron Man released Ragnarok, a cyborg clone of Thor that murdered Bill Foster, a.k.a. Goliath.

Following the events of “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” the film set Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) against one other due to their different viewpoints.

Fortunately for Chris Hemsworth and Bruce Banner/Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo, Marvel Studios quickly notified them that their absence from Captain America: Civil War was due to their respective characters’ own adventures elsewhere in the MCU universe. Thor: Ragnarok, a rough adaptation of the “Planet Hulk” narrative, chronicled the adventure. However, as an added bonus, a mockumentary-style short film called Team Thor was made, explaining that Thor was not engaged in Civil War since he was on vacation in Australia. It was a hilarious supplementary feature included with the home media version of Civil War, and it was followed by Team Thor: Part 2 and Team Darryl.