Christian Bale is new to the Marvel Cinematic Universe both in his knowledge of the franchise and his acting debut as Thor: Love and Thunder's main villain, Gorr. However, based on his summary of one of the MCU's most powerful bad guys, he seems to get the gist of it.
Thanos the Mad Titan was the MCU's largest adversary until the events of Avengers: Endgame. He had been the driving force behind Loki's invasion of Earth that initially brought the Avengers together, the initial motivation for Ronan the Accuser's search for the Power Stone and a true monster that had reduced half the universe to nothing in his personal quest for balance. His influence touched nearly everything in the MCU's first three phases, but Bale managed to sum all of that up with a brief description during an interview with Empire magazine.
"When I joined this, Taika said to me, 'What do you know about the Marvel Universe?'" Bale said. "I said, 'I saw one of the films where there was a big bloke looking for stones.'"
Bale has not been shy about admitting his lack of familiarity with the many characters and franchises that have joined the ever-expanding cinematic universe. Prior to being cast as Thor's next opponent, Bale hadn't even heard of the MCU. However, this did not stop him from taking on the role and delivering a performance that Thor 4's test audiences rated higher than any other Marvel villain to date.
Gorr The God Butcher
This terrifying villain in question is Gorr the God Butcher. In the comics, he is an alien who fostered a burning hatred for gods everywhere after a life of sorrow and suffering. He got his chance to pay it back when a battle between two gods sent one careening onto his planet. Though injured and begging for help, Gorr slew the wounded deity using a sword made up of a black fluidlike substance. This would only be the first to be slain as he and the sword, All-Black the Necrosword, would lay waste to gods across the known universe.
In terms of motivation, there isn't a big departure between the comic book character and Bale's portrayal of him. His mission to rid all planets of their deities has been thoroughly demonstrated in trailers as Thor and his allies gather to face a common threat. Physically, however, Gorr's comic look was largely ignored in order to avoid parallels to Voldemort from Harry Potter and make up for Bale's physique at the time of shooting.
Fans can watch Thor Odinson and Gorr the God Butcher go toe-to-toe in Thor: Love and Thunder, in theaters now.
Source: Empire