This is our best look yet at Chris Hemsworth as the villainous Warlord Dementus. One of the things that makes the “Mad Max” universe so unique and influential after all these decades is the intricate, recognizable, and memorable character designs that populate the wasteland. Villains like Immortan Joe, Bullet Farmer, or Lord Humungus aren’t easily forgotten, and neither — it seems — is Dementus.
Hemsworth looks like he’s a Jim Carrey villain, in a good way. He lives up to his name with the big goggles, long beard, and mustache that echo Dr. Robotnik in the “Sonic the Hedgehog” movies. The stuffed animal Dementus carries around, especially, all make him fit right in with the wild people that dominate the wasteland.
During a panel at CCXP (via Hollywood Handle), Chris Hemsworth talked about playing Dementus (whom he described as a “disturbed individual”). “I loved it,” he said. “I don’t know if that says anything about me, but I’ve always been the hero, and now you break the rules is something very good and different.”
What’s more, Dementus is not alone. We see him ride into battle (on a chariot like he was in ancient Rome) with a group of warriors that includes what may very well be this movie’s answer to Coma-Doof Warrior. I’m talking about the guy in the demon goat suit, riding a bike with a fan on its back. It is the kind of bizarre visual that makes the characters of the “Mad Max” franchise so memorable and cool.
