Chris Hemsworth Cast In Probably Heavily-Sanitized Hulk Hogan Biopic

For a while there, Hulk Hogan was - improbably - one of the biggest celebrities in America. He was the biggest name in wrestling, and one of the most prominent wrestlers ever to expand their celebrity into mainstream culture, starring in movies, TV shows, commercials, and video games, and recording an album that still doesn't hold up to this day. Hulk was everywhere, and I for one can't remember a time from before I knew his name.

It's no surprise that a biopic is underway, then, but what is a surprise is that Chris Hemsworth is now set to play Hogan. Hemsworth is way better-looking, way smoother-talking, and probably a way better person than Hogan, but I guess that's where acting comes in. Todd Phillips will direct the film, as a followup to his Joker movie, from a script co-written by Joker writer Scott Silver and Stronger's John Pollono, and deals are underway for the film to live at Netflix.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the film will focus on Hogan's rise to fame, and will be "an origin story of the Hulkster and Hulkamania." That's probably for the best, from the filmmakers' point of view. Hogan's most recent headlines came as the result of a sex-tape scandal, and the court case that followed was eventually bankrolled by vaguely sinister Big Data billionaire Peter Thiel in a successful effort to destroy Thiel's arch-nemesis Gawker Media. That episode became the subject a documentary, also on Netflix, entitled Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press, and it will be to that documentary that Netflix's algorithm will likely direct viewers after they finish watching whatever this Hulk biopic is called.

The sex tape also features Hogan using the N-word repeatedly, which he has a history of using, so I guess we've all forgotten about that. He's sinced apologised multiple times, but it's been made clear on multiple occasions that the man underneath the all-American, breakfast-cereal-endorsing Hulk Hogan mask isn't a particularly pleasant one. And with Hogan executive-producing, you can bet your ass none of that will make it into the movie.

Although let's be honest, we'd all love to see Chris Hemsworth do the sex tape.