We already know Chris Hemsworth can convincingly play a god on the large display—however the Marvel star additionally has some superhuman qualities in actual life, too. In Limitless With Chris Hemsworth, a brand new Disney+ collection created by Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), we see Hemsworth have interaction in excessive challenges designed to assist the human physique push again towards the getting old course of.

The six episodes embody “Shock,” wherein Hemsworth swims by means of an Arctic sea; “Strength,” involving a deadly climb; “Stress-Proof,” involving an much more perilous climb; “Memory,” an episode about wilderness survival; “Fasting,” which sees Hemsworth on a supervised quick (whereas, maybe most impressively, persevering with to prepare dinner for his youngsters and tolerate his pizza-eating mates); and “Acceptance,” which makes use of know-how and an immersive setting to assist the 30-something Hemsworth expertise what it feels wish to be 80-something.

io9 spoke to Aronofsky about creating Limitless and dealing with Hemsworth forward of the collection’ arrival on Disney+ at the moment.

Cheryl Eddy, io9: We know you principally from options like Black Swan and Requiem for a Dream and your new movie, The Whale. What made you wish to shift gears and work on this documentary collection? 

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Darren Aronofsky: Well, I’ve been type of enjoying round within the [science-documentary genre] for, I don’t know, seven, eight years or so. My dad was a science trainer. I used to be educated as a area biologist. And I’ve simply been centered on science my complete life. When Nat Geo referred to as me fairly some time in the past to work on [2018 series] One Strange Rock, it was a dream come true. And I’ve been excited to maintain engaged on that a part of my profession since that.

io9: How did you determine which challenges to incorporate in Limitless With Chris Hemsworth?

Aronofsky: We knew we have been doing six episodes, [so we centered them around] the six pillars of longevity—the type of lowest-hanging fruit of issues that individuals might do to assist themselves stay higher, longer. That’s the place we began. And then, out of the completely different themes of these completely different episodes, we tried to determine an thrilling journey to the core of the science that might assist clarify it to the viewers.

io9: Which episode do you suppose was the hardest for Chris Hemsworth to movie? Did you ever fear that he would fail any of the challenges?

Aronofsky: Oh, yeah. I imply, Chris Hemsworth fasting for 4 days. I knew that was going to be robust as a result of the quantity of energy he takes in to play Thor. I knew it was going to be a problem for him. The Arctic swim was really a monumental feat. I used to be there when that occurred, and it was terrifying to swim right into a headwind 200 yards in ice chilly water [wearing] principally a pair of boardshorts—I couldn’t even think about making [it] 15, 20 ft if it was me. So it was actually a powerful feat. All of the challenges have been actually designed nicely, to push him in methods he wasn’t certain he would be capable to pull off.

io9: Chris Hemsworth is clearly an excellent match film star with entry to assets not out there to the common individual. What do you hope audiences who watch Limitless—common people, in different phrases—take away from watching him full these challenges?

Aronofsky: We have been actually cautious and considerate in ensuring that there have been takeaways that everybody, regardless of the place you’re on the planet, might use in on a regular basis life. The examples that have been used for the present have been excessive examples, to make them entertaining. But each single present has one thing that everybody on the earth can take away and use of their on a regular basis lives.

io9: Did engaged on Limitless encourage you to make any modifications in your life?

Aronofsky: I used to be already form of following quite a lot of this stuff as a result of I’m previous mates with [longevity expert] Dr. Peter Attia. I’ve been fascinated with these items since I did The Fountain in 2006.

io9: Most of the episodes concentrate on these form of superhuman acts of power and daring. But to me, the “Acceptance” episode was essentially the most profound. Why was it vital so that you can embody a take a look at end-of-life points in a present about making an attempt to stay longer?

Aronofsky: Because really, the science exhibits that having a peace and acceptance along with your finish of life will really can help you stay longer. It was really from the start the principle purpose I did the present—I at all times knew that doing a present on longevity, it’s a must to speak about dying. It wasn’t at all times apparent to the studio that that was a good suggestion, however as I saved pushing it and telling Nat Geo, “Hey, we really need to do this show,” they acquired increasingly more excited once they began to see it come to life.

io9: How did you design the room that he stays in for that episode? Some elements of it have been amusing, however some very poignant, too.

Aronofsky: We needed to recreate a a senior residing facility, put him in, after which, after all, we needed to make it customized. I don’t wish to give away too [much] of what occurs in that room. There have been simply quite a lot of conversations and discussions about how we how we how we might pull it off.

io9: There are some, we’ll name them Easter eggs hidden in there.

Aronofsky: Exactly.

io9: Why was Disney+ the suitable outlet for this collection? Was there a purpose past Chris Hemsworth being a Marvel star?

Aronofsky: Well, my relationship begins with Nat Geo. It’s actually an unbelievable private factor for me. I’ve been an enormous fan of Nat Geo since I used to be somewhat boy, and so I’ve had an extended relationship with them. And I really like what’s occurred to Nat Geo in that that has the assist of Disney and Disney+ to achieve giant audiences. That’s simply thrilling as as a content material creator to have entry to that dimension of viewers.

io9: How do you stability your schedule between function movie directing and dealing on initiatives like Limitless?

Aronofsky: It’s all simultaneous. Limitless took us three years to make. And in that point I additionally made The Whale. Also, we produced [Netflix film] The Good Nurse. We have [FX series] Kindred popping out subsequent month. So I work with a bunch of nice younger producers at Protozoa, my firm, and we’re simply continually pushing ahead a lot of completely different initiatives.

Here’s an unique clip from the “Shock” episode of Limitless, wherein you see Chris Hemsworth rising from the freezing water and jokingly (however probably not) calling to his first Arctic plunge “the most awful thing” he’s ever achieved.

All six episodes of Limitless With Chris Hemsworth are actually streaming on Disney+.

Want extra io9 information? Check out when to count on the newest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on movie and TV, and every thing you want to find out about James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water.