Thor: Love and Thunder will see the Marvel Cinematic Universe debut of Gorr the God Butcher, but actor Christian Bale explained why his rendition of the murderous villain won't be comics-accurate.
"I was coming off of a film where it had been necessary to be sort of rather lacking in muscle," said Bale, as reported by ComicBook.com. "And then I saw the images and thought, 'Well, that's not gonna be possible... and this g-string thing that's going on there.' He looked in the comic books like physically, you know, someone to reckon with though."
He continued, "And I said, 'Well, you know, that's just not gonna be possible in the state I'm in. And we literally have three days between me finishing one film and heading over to Australia for the quarantine and whatnot. I like to usually have much more time in between, but the pandemic meant that things got worked out that way."
Gorr's New Look
Bale went on to say that both he and director Taika Waititi were able to find a fresh direction for Gorr the God Butcher, despite the limited time to prepare. While the film's version of the villain won't show nearly as much skin, they decided to "go with the supernatural powers that he does have, that he gets from the Necro sword, et cetera, which I think works really effectively," Bale said. According to Waititi, Bale's depiction of Gorr will make for the best villain the MCU has seen so far.
Bale, known for his ability to physically inhabit the characters he portrays, has previously altered his physical appearance for films like Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, American Psycho, The Machinist and The Fighter, among others. The actor even gained over 50 pounds for his role in American Hustle. For Gorr the God-Butcher, Bale wore heavy prosthetics, including long, claw-like fingernails. The actor said having long nails "affected [his] brain" to the point where he thought he couldn't even walk or eat because of them, adding, "I was pathetic. I couldn't do anything."
Thor: Love and Thunder marks the first time any MCU hero has starred in four feature films, which the sequel being Hemsworth's fourth solo film as the God of Thunder. It also sees the return of Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, not only as Thor's ex-girlfriend but also as the Mighty Thor, the new wielder of Mjolnir. "I trained for a long time before and during, and I was doing the whole protein shakes [thing]," Portman said of her preparation for the role. "It really helped prepare me for the level of action that we ended up doing."
Thor: Love and Thunder opens in theaters on July 8.
Source: ComicBook.com