Ray Stevenson, who starred in Thor and Punisher: War Zone, died on Sunday, May 21, 2023. He had been hospitalized on the island of Ischia, but no other details were given as to the cause of death. He died four days before his birthday at age 58.

Stevenson portrayed Volstagg, the warrior and Thor’s friend with a large appetite, in Thor and the sequels, Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok. He played the titular antihero in Punisher: War Zone and recently he played the vicious governor in RRR. In April 2023, Stevenson appeared at Star Wars Celebration in London to promote Ahsoka, the upcoming series on which he is one of the main antagonists.

He was born George Raymond Stevenson on May 25, 1964 in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. His first career was as a designer for an architectural firm, then he attended Bristol Old Vic Theatre School to study acting in his late 20s.

Stevenson’s onscreen began in ’93 with a guest spot on the TV series A Woman’s Guide to Adultery and made his film debut in ’98 in The Theory of Flight. He starred in the first two seasons of City Central as detective inspector Tony Baynham and played the knight Dagonet in King Arthur.

He starred in the Rome TV series as the soldier Titus Pullo, was in The Book of Eli, Kill the Irishman, The Three Musketeers, Jayne Mansfield’s Car, and had a recurring role on Dexter. Stevenson played Firefly in G.I. Joe: Retaliation, starred in the Divergent film series as Abnegation leader Marcus Eaton, and he was Blackbeard in Black Sails. He voiced Gar Saxon in Star Wars: Rebels and The Clone Wars, he played Othere in Vikings, and had just started working on Cassino on Ischia.