All the Chris Hemsworth photos from EW's Extraction 2 cover story

It's raining Chris

Chris Hemsworth graces EW's latest cover as he prepares to launch his highly anticipated Netflix sequel Extraction 2. "There are some people who are just compulsively watchable," says Anthony Russo, who, alongside his brother Joe, produced both Extraction movies and directed Hemsworth in multiple Avengers flicks. "And Chris Hemsworth is one of the most watchable there is."

Read the full cover story here, and click through for more images of Hemsworth from our cover shoot, as well as Extraction 2 photos.

Stunt man

"I can turn up on a set in the morning and rehearse a traditional action sequence, and then shoot it that afternoon, just by the nature of being able to shoot it piece by piece," says Hemsworth.

Family man

After filming Extraction 2, "I decided to take some time off because I was exhausted, and I wanted to be home with my family," says the actor, who lives in Australia with his wife, actress Elsa Pataky, and their three kids — daughter India, 11, and twin sons Sasha and Tristan, 9.

Dad time

On weekdays, he tries to get the kids off to school in the morning — which he describes as a "battle, because they're a bit like me." "They love sports, and they love art," he says with a laugh. "But math, science, et cetera isn't necessarily something they're gravitating toward with any huge amount of excitement."

Self reflection

While Hemsworth was filming his National Geographic docuseries Limitless, he learned he has a genetic predisposition for Alzheimer's that leaves him at much higher risk to develop the disease later in life. The experience "made me go, 'Oh wow, none of us are invincible.' It kind of slams you into the moment. You start asking bigger questions, and you think, 'I need to slow down and just experience this moment now and not have the years race by.'"

Going strong

"It got a little overdramatized, like I was potentially retiring because of this thing. Which just isn't the case," Hemsworth says of his Alzheimer's news.

Balancing act

"It's all about balance," Hemsworth says of taking time between projects. "I realized how restorative and replenishing that time can be, but I also realized how much I need an outlet, too. I need to be building something, creating something."

Back in action

"As fun as sitting around on the beach all day sounds initially, it very quickly becomes… I don't want to say mundane, but too familiar. For me, I like the spontaneity. I like the unexpected. I like being challenged," says Hemsworth.

'Furiosa' future

"It's massive and otherworldly and everything you'd expect from the Mad Max world," Hemsworth says of playing a villain opposite Anya Taylor-Joy in Furiosa, George Miller's long-anticipated follow-up to 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road

God of Thunder

"I've got to be careful how I word that because I have no idea what's happening in the next phase," Hemsworth says of his future as the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Thor. "I don't want to continue to do it until people are so exhausted that they roll their eyes when they see me come on the screen as that character [but] I've loved being able to reinvent that character a few times. I don't have the answer yet, but I would love to try and [figure out] how we can do that again and keep it a little unpredictable."

Leading man

The Russos and director Sam Hargrave initially had other ideas about who should play the brooding Tyler Rake, hoping to cast against type with a more non-traditional action hero. (In other words, someone who looked less like a literal golden god, ripped from the pages of a comic book.) But when Hemsworth expressed interest, "We kind of looked at each other and were like, 'Yeah, we can let our preconceived notions of what we think we should do with the script go,'" Hargrave recalls with a laugh. "We have a movie star looking for a role. We would be foolish not to capitalize on that."

To the rescue

After nearly dying in the first film, Hemsworth's Tyler has to battle his way back to recovery before taking on a new case: springing a Georgian family from a brutal prison.

Hang time

"In our film, we're on a moving train," says Hemsworth, who wanted to embrace as much practical action as possible. "There is an actual helicopter flying backwards in front of the train, 20 feet away from me, and there are a million different variables and things that can go wrong. You're on the edge of your seat because it's truthful."

Always in motion

"It's not an easy movie," Anthony Russo adds (just check out director Sam Hargrave on the front of a moving ATV with camera in hand for proof). "It's not a movie where you show up and you're staying at a comfortable Four Seasons, where you do a couple of scenes on a stage set. You're going to get your hands dirty. You're going to get beat up. The conditions are extremely harsh. So, you have to be all in. And Chris is absolutely all in."

Team effort

"People are on fire, things are blowing up, and if you miss a step or a punch, all of a sudden every single person on the set has to start again," he explains. "It's not just you going through it. You're dragging everyone else back into another take."

'Extraction' future?

Hemsworth's goal in this second Extraction film was to peel back the layers of Tyler Rake's psyche, focusing as much on his emotional state as his physical one. He's also already thinking about where Tyler could go next: "The third one — which we plan on doing if we're lucky enough to do it — will be totally different," the actor teases.

Read our Extraction 2 cover story here.