How Thor: Love and Thunder’s Christian Bale Made a Scarier Villain Than Hela

Thor: Love and Thunder will do a ton of crazy things when it hits theaters next month, and we’re finally starting to get some insight on the film. Director Taika Waititi introduced us to one of the best Marvel Studios villains with Cate Blanchett’s Hela and he looks to do it again with the fourth film. The film will bring in former Batman actor Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher and he looks like a formidable foe for Chris Hemsworth’s Thor. Waititi, Hemsworth and Marvel Studios, head of streaming, television and animation, recently did an interview with Disney (via The Direct) where they revealed how Gorr could be a step up from Hela. 

“We needed to step up from Hela and find a villain who was somehow even more formidable,” Waititi revealed. “And we found that in Gorr, who is played by the remarkable Christian Bale.”

“Gorr played by the rules, and so when he realizes he’s been betrayed by the gods, he’s overtaken by a rage that hits such a fever pitch that he gains an evil, ancient power and sets out to rid the universe of these gods, who don’t take care of their humans.” Weinstein added.

Marvel Studios has been absolutely killing it with their villains lately, so when they hired Bale fans were definitely excited to see the actor take on the villainous role. Hemsworth teased how Bale took on the role and how many layers the actor brought to the character. “There’s so much drama and insanity around Gorr, but Christian Bale managed to pull the focus right into each moment,” Hemsworth said. “You can’t take your eyes off him. The character is fascinating, because, like all good villains, Gorr has a point. He may not be going about it the right way, but there’s empathy in the script, and Christian brought so many more layers and so much more depth to Gorr.”

With Thor: Love and Thunder feature is set to introduce us to the villainous Gorr the God Butcher, and reintroduce us to Natalie Portman as Jane Foster/Mighty Thor. Hemsworth has previously described what it was like working with Bale on set, calling it “really scary”, and now the actor has detailed the villains complex backstory in a recent interview with D23 Magazine.

“[Gorr is] not a straightforward villain… there’s a real complexity to him. It’s not black and white, what he’s doing. He has a truthful motivation, which I think makes for the most interesting kind of villain,” Hemsworth said. “You might not agree with how he’s going about it, but you understand why he’s been tipped over the edge and why he’s gone down this path. It’s a really challenging one for Thor, because the set of questions Gorr’s posing does hold some truth—but he can’t let Gorr destroy the universe in the process. That, I think, makes this a greater dynamic and not as predictable as the straightforward good gut vs. bad guy scenario we’ve seen before.”

Marvel Studios describes Thor: Love and Thunder as follows: “The film finds Thor (Chris Hemsworth) on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced – a quest for inner peace. But his retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who – to Thor’s surprise – inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor. Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.”

The film is being directed by Taika Waititi and will star Chris Hemsworth as the titular character, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster/Mighty Thor, Russell Crowe as Zeus, Jaimie Alexander as Lady Sif, Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star Lord, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Karen Gillan as Nebula and Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher. In addition to directing, Waititi will also be reprising his role as Korg. Thor: Love and Thunder hits theaters on July 8th 2022!

Are you excited to see Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @NateBrail up on Twitter!