REVIEW: 'Limitless' Season 2 Proves Chris Hemsworth Is The Bravest Man In Hollywood
- Sarah Angelo-Haight
- Aug 6
- 8 min read
This review contains minor spoilers for 'Limitless' Season 2.
Chris Hemsworth is a man willing to show the vulnerability masked under strength. From his blockbuster turn as Thor Odinson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, to the high-octane action of the Extraction franchise, from comedy to drama, Hemsworth has proven himself able to bring pathos and humanity to the screen with him. He does so again in the second season of Limitless, airing on Disney+ and Hulu on August 15, and National Geographic on August 25. Instead of an iconic role, however, Hemsworth comes as himself, as relatable as an A-list celebrity who is friends with other A-list celebrities can be, willing to shed the stoic shield of hypermasculinity in favor of an openness to talk about issues that impact not only himself, but millions of others, in a way that is part documentary, part therapy session.
The first season of Limitless aired on Disney+ in 2022 and consisted of six episodes, each of which encompassed a different challenge for Hemsworth to undertake. He applied himself to the endeavor with vigor and what resulted was an exciting and surprisingly heartfelt television experience. Season two, while half the length of season one, retains what was so charming about the original: Hemsworth, and his willingness to be vulnerable, unpracticed, unpolished, and sometimes downright ridiculous in front of experts, colleagues, friends, family, and the audience.
The first episode of the new season shows this very well, as Hemsworth consults Dr. Maya Shankar, a cognitive scientist, about how best to keep the brain elastic as one ages. It seems fitting that this is how the season would begin, as the previous season ended with Hemsworth learning he carried the markers that predict the development of Alzheimer’s disease, leading to a short break from Hollywood. So, surely, it makes sense to learn how to maintain neuroplasticity. Using clever animations and Hemsworth’s own narration, the neuroscience concepts are explained in a way that makes them easy to understand, even if perhaps oversimplified for the masses. In any case, Hemsworth is given the assignment of learning how to play an instrument, leading him to seek out singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran and Parkway Drive drummer Ben Gordon. After trying a couple of different options, it’s decided that he will learn how to play the drums in order to perform a song with Sheeran at a stadium concert. As Hemsworth claims not to have any musical background (viral clip of him performing Johnny Cash’s version of the Nine Inch Nails song “Hurt” while on the set of Avengers: Endgame in full “Bro Thor” regalia notwithstanding), there are some basic skills that he has to develop in order to play. To aid him in the process of learning, he heads to the rehearsal space of Cirque du Soleil to learn about breaking longer pieces into shorter sequences, to help the brain work with itself instead of against.
One of the joys of Limitless is watching Hemsworth learn new things. There’s even the slightest sense of schaudenfreude in seeing an exceptionally handsome and otherwise talented individual struggle with a new skill, the same as everyone else. More than that, though, it’s relatable, with tips and tricks from experts that can be put into action even by those of us who don’t have our own lifestyle brand. Even with all of the new tools and practice, the lead up to the concert is tense, and the relief when Hemsworth nails the section of “Thinking Out Loud” that he had been struggling with the entire episode is palpable. Though honestly, if I were at an Ed Sheeran concert and Chris Hemsworth butchered one of my favorite songs, I can’t say I would even be that mad.
On the heels of success in challenging his mind, Hemsworth moves towards the challenges of the body. Episode two specifically focuses on chronic pain, and the relationship between pain and person. As someone who battles chronic pain daily, hearing Hemsworth talk about his own struggles with chronic pain was intensely validating. Both in conversation with palliative medicine specialist BJ Miller as well as during the camera-facing “confessional” segments, Hemsworth opens up about dealing with scoliosis from a young age and the impact it has had on his physical and mental well-being. Watching Hemsworth in any of his carefully-curated social media posts, or even during the first season of Limitless, it is clear his pain is something that has been deeply compartmentalized for a long time, hidden from public view. By being refreshingly honest about the fact that yes, his back hurts often, yes, he has to take medication to manage it sometimes, yes it impacts time spent with his family, yes, he still forces himself to push through it due to some misplaced sense of pride, it allows others to be more open as well about their own struggles. And, being able to share yourself with others while in pain is one of the things that Hemsworth explores when Miller hooks him and a couple of his buddies to a TENS unit, which is designed to provide electrical pulses to targeted muscle groups (and can be either therapeutic or extraordinarily painful). When sitting alone and hooked up to the device, Hemsworth was only able to tolerate the third-lowest setting before tapping out. However, when with his friends and focusing on a side-splittingly hilarious game of Jenga, Miller was able to raise the device to full power without Hemsworth being in distress. After the TENS unit excitement, Hemsworth visits a monastery and participates in an exercise designed to help move through pain, and then finally to the ultimate challenge of the episode: an intense training session with South Korea’s elite military.
The lessons in the second episode seem at first glance like your typical “mind over matter”, “push through the pain” type, but the message is really more about relying on connections with others and accepting the pain instead of fighting against it. Of course, there is the caveat that this is specifically about chronic pain and not about the kind of pain that tells you that you just shattered your femur. This is about the kind of pain that worms into your consciousness on a day to day basis, the kind that may have a physical root source but which isn’t a signal that damage is actively being done. While Hemsworth admits that none of the techniques he practices in the episode made the pain vanish, the takeaway is that it became easier to endure when he was surrounded by others and focusing on other things.
There is no room for dropped focus in the third and final episode, which encompasses the concept of risk. Through home videos of his three daredevil children as well as the show’s own animations, the science of risk seeking behavior is discussed. The challenge for this episode involves climbing the face of a 200 meter high dam in the Swiss Alps, leading Hemsworth to consult with neuroscientist Abby Marsh about the science behind risk taking behavior in children, versus risk averse behavior in adults. The episode explains the difference in the brains of extreme athletes, who tend to have more active dopamine systems than other adults, which leads to a greater willingness to undertake risks. Leading up to the dam climb, Hemsworth practices both high diving and deep water free climbing, openly admitting to the difficulty of both tasks, but tackling them with good-humored aplomb. The climb itself is deeply intense, tight cuts of Hemsworth’s face, teeth gritted, eyes tight, as he painstakingly raises himself hand over hand up the side of an enormous concrete wall, in the mountains, in the middle of winter. Anyone who has attempted an endurance activity of any kind will recognize the stages Hemsworth describes going through during the climb, from early apprehension, to pain, to the much-desired “flow state”, to just pure anger at the wall itself that ultimately keeps him from giving up.
Season two of Limitless is just as breathtakingly filmed as the first season, with wide, sweeping drone shots of soaring mountains and crashing waves, epic in scope. The experts and other guests add a huge amount of value, explaining complex concepts in a digestible format. I especially appreciated BJ Miller, the palliative care doctor, whose own harrowing experience with pain gives him a real sense of true understanding and professional gravitas. The real star is, of course, Chris Hemsworth, and not just because it’s his face on the poster. It’s not because it’s fun to watch him jump off a high dive or jam out on the drums, or to see him yelping as his abdominal muscles are shocked with electricity. It’s because Hemsworth, one of the most popular actors in the world, known primarily for his tough guy superhero action roles, allows himself to be seen. The Chris Hemsworth we see in Limitless isn’t the A-list celebrity. It’s the 41-year-old dad and husband with back pain and a minor fear of heights. He’s lightly self-deprecating, charmingly earnest, and refreshingly genuine. He allows himself to be filmed in a way that is not always flattering, but is always honest.
There has been a recent renaissance when it comes to men’s wellness, a greater willingness to openly talk about the very real concept of toxic masculinity. With his work on Limitless, Hemsworth turns the idea of toxic masculinity upside down. The confessional segments often almost feel like a therapy session with how open he allows himself to be about his fears, his challenges, and his limitations. It is vital that men like Hemsworth continue to make content like this, as something both inspirational and aspirational.
While season two of Limitless lacks the intense emotional capstone moment of the previous season’s final episode on aging and death, it is still an intensely enjoyable experience, and one that should rightfully earn Hemsworth the title of Bravest Man in Hollywood, not just because of the physical challenges he undertakes, but the emotional honesty with which he undertakes them.
Rating: ★★★★★
About Limitless Season 2
Premiere Date: August 15th, 2025
Episode Count: 3
Executive Producer/Showrunner: Tom Watt-Smith Peter Lovering Arif Nurmohamed Jane Root Darren Aronofsky Ari Handel Chris Hemsworth Ben Grayson Brandon Hill Bengt Anderson Simon Raikes
Production Company: Protozoa Pictures, Nutopia, Wild State
Distribution: Disney+, Hulu, National Geographic
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Ed Sheeran, Dr. BJ Miller, Dr. Maya Shankar, Ben Gordon, Professor Abigail Marsh, Steph Davis, Kim Dong-hyun, Robbie Maddison
Synopsis: In LIMITLESS: LIVE BETTER NOW, from Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Darren Aronofsky and his production company Protozoa, Jane Root’s Nutopia, and Chris Hemsworth and Ben Grayson’s Wild State, Chris returns with a bold new mission: discovering how we can all live better—starting today. Filmed across six countries over two years, Chris draws from cutting-edge science and the wisdom of elders to push himself further than ever—both physically and mentally—as he confronts some of life’s most universal challenges: pain, fear and cognitive decline. With no prior experience, he learns to play the drums for a live performance with GRAMMY Award®-winner Ed Sheeran. Then, he scales a dizzying 600 foot climbing wall in the Swiss Alps to embrace risk. Finally, he joins the South Korean Special Forces, enduring electrocution and pepper spray, to confront his long struggle with chronic pain and reconfigure his response to it. In each episode, what Chris discovers can help us all change our lives.
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