One of the most exciting things about Thor: Love and Thunder is the film’s villain. We suspected Christian Bale might play Gorr the God Butcher long before it was confirmed. That detail alone is enough to want to make you watch this movie — and to root for the villain even before seeing him in action. That’s because it’s Christian Bale playing a well-known Marvel villain, so we’ll want to see more of Gorr beyond Love and Thunder.
Marvel certainly waited to give the character a proper introduction in the trailers, unveiling him in the film’s second trailer. Now that we’re approaching the film’s release date, the Love and Thunder press tour is in full swing, and we might get a few more details about the movie and characters. With that in mind, Taika Waititi just teased that Bale’s Gorr might be the MCU’s best villain so far.
Mind you, some spoilers will follow below.
Waititi co-wrote the Love and Thunder screenplay and directed the movie. He also played Korg, a character Marvel introduced in Thor: Ragnarok. The director joined Chris Hemsworth and Valkyrie Tessa Thompson in a wide-ranging interview with Fandango, where they answered various questions about Love and Thunder.
Well, they’ve provided limited answers so as not to spoil the action in Thor 4. In this context, Gorr came up. And the trio talked about Christian Bale’s villain in Love and Thunder.
Who is the Thor: Love and Thunder villain?
Hemsworth said that Bale brings “nuanced complexity” and depth to the Love and Thunder villain, “a sort of quirkiness to it which I didn’t see on the page.” The actor teased that the audience might find it easy to empathize and even root for the Love and Thunder villain.
Waititi chimed in, adding that Gorr is the “most sympathetic villain” Marvel has had so far. The director added that the main Love and Thunder antagonist also “tested the highest out of any villain that Marvel’s had.” If you needed any more reasons to want to watch Thor 4, this sort of info should do it for you.
Thompson mentioned Stan Lee’s explanation of heroes and villains while addressing the Love and Thunder antagonist. Trauma could be what makes someone a superhero or a villain.
“In the case of a villain, it’s unchecked,” she said. “Your source of pain is what manifests into your villainry, and I think [Bale] captures that so well.”
She continued, “He just also was so surprising, you know, like he just would make choices that you’d be like ‘Oh!’. It just was so fun to watch and such dexterity and also what he did with his body. And he’s really in it and the way that you would assume Christian is, but he also has a sense of humor about it.”
Love and Thunder premieres on July 8th, so it won’t be long until we find out exactly how good this Marvel villain is. Tickets are available to purchase right now, and Fandango’s full interview with Waititi, Hemsworth, and Thompson follows below.
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