WARNING: Spoilers for Avengers: Endgame ahead.
After the opening of the new Marvel blockbuster, in which Thor beheaded supervillain Thanos for destroying the Infinity Stones, there is a time jump of five years.
In that time, the enormity of losses the God of Thunder has suffered manifests into a depression – the effects of which include a reliance on alcohol, longer and unkempt hair, and a gain in weight.
Even though Thor somewhat mentally recovers during the course of the movie, that weight is not lost again.
Speaking to the LA Times, McFeely and Markus said that they didn’t want to treat the weight as a problem he needed to get rid of.
“[The possibility of weight loss] came up but we were really adamant about not doing that because I think that would treat it more like a joke,” McFeely said.
“And the idea is that this is who he is now and he’s still a hero.
“And when he calls down the lightning and gets both hammers, all it does is put a suit on him and twist his beard into a braid, it doesn’t magically take 200 pounds off.”
Markus added: “And I think what his mother tells him, ‘Don’t be who you’re supposed to be, be the best version of who you are,’ includes that.
“We didn’t want to treat the weight gain like the issue that he needed to get over. Like ‘Thor got fat and now he needs to go on a diet.’
“No, he needs to feel OK about himself no matter who he is.”
On the Lewbowski visual references, Markus said: “We knew we wanted him to kind of get a little schlubby and be hanging around the house.
“And Lebowski is sort of the world’s primary reference for a guy in a bathrobe.
“So we gave our ideas about it to the costume and art department and they came back with Thor in a bathrobe with sunglasses and suddenly it all clicked.”
Earlier this week the Russo brothers, who directed the film, spoke about the moment they told Chris Hemsworth about the physical changes they were making to his character.
Avengers: Endgame is out now.