Since the end of The Infinity Saga, many have wondered who would be the next big bad of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially as Phase 4 broadened its reach to streaming series. There have been many theories about potential villains, as Mephisto was a popular speculation during WandaVision; meanwhile, the debut of He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) paved the way for Kang’s introduction in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Plus with, the next era of the MCU officially being The Multiverse Saga, it seems like another big bad in the vein of Thanos could be on the horizon. However, at the time being, the Phase 4 films and shows have not fully committed to who that can be, with Thor: Love and Thunder highlighting how the era of the big bad could be over.
Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) is one of the biggest threats Thor has come across in the comics, and many fans were eager to see his big screen debut because of this reputation. Come Thor: Love and Thunder, Gorr is still a danger to all gods, and he is the clear villain of this film, but with his death, he is not the villain of the MCU’s next era, despite him being a worthy candidate.
As with every MCU film, liberties are taken when adapting a character. In Gorr’s case, they could have tied him into the common theme of many of these films – accountability. As an alien, he could see The Avengers and other superheroes of Earth as godlike beings who interfere too much with the lives of others or not enough. Therefore, he could have aspired to kill all gods, both in the traditional sense and in a super sense. This is just one of many possibilities they could have done with Gorr to make him a franchise big bad. After all, with an actor like Bale in the role, seeing his version of Gorr grow throughout multiple movies would have made sense on paper.
Instead, he is reserved for Thor: Love and Thunder, which isn’t a bad thing. His character got a full arc in the film, and fans got a new version of The God Butcher to enjoy alongside the one they know in the comics. Plus, having a big bad for the MCU at large doesn’t seem like the direction the franchise is going, regardless of there being two new Avengers films in the future.
Many of the villains from Phase 4 so far have either been taken off the board or set up to play a role smaller than what Thanos had. For instance, Wenwu (Tony Leung), one of the stand-out villains of the MCU at large, was killed off at the end of Shang-Chi; meanwhile, all the foes Spider-Man (Tom Holland) faced in No Way Home returned to their universes. Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) was also solid villain in WandaVision, but it’s clear the larger threat was Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen), who was unceremoniously killed off in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, despite having the potential to be the next big bad.
Even many of the TV shows, like Ms. Marvel and Moon Knight, have brought an end to their villains, and while there is more to explore with these titular characters, it doesn’t seem like the foes they faced will be the next Avengers level threat. While some villains may come back, like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), WandaVision’s Agatha Harkness or Hawkeye’s King Pin (Vincent D'Onofrio), they’ve been set up to tackle smaller things when compared to the scale of what Thanos did.
When looking at candidates for the next MCU big bad from Phase 4, The Celestials and Kang make the most sense, but the events of Eternals have not truly been addressed in any of the other projects. Meanwhile, Kang is set up to play a role in multiple titles outside Loki, but currently, Phase 4 has not done much with him despite several opportunities given the multiversal plots of No Way Home and Multiverse of Madness.
Thor: Love and Thunder is not the first Phase 4 project to fail to set up the next big bad for the MCU’s Multiverse Saga, and with Phase 5 kicking off after Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, it would be surprising to see the big bad play a role here too. However, Love and Thunder highlights how the MCU may be done with big bads for the time being. Love and Thunder, Shang-Chi, No Way Home and Multiverse of Madness delivered memorable villains who were either killed off or removed from the larger picture by the time the credits rolled. Many of them also had the potential to be a big bad or connect to the larger threat that lies ahead, but – at the time of this writing – that doesn’t seem to be the case.
It’s still exciting to think of what Kang has in store for the MCU, especially with Majors’ performance in Loki, but for the time being, the MCU seems to be relishing in the early days of this new saga. As a result, many of the films and the tv shows have been using one and done villains to help introduce new characters or broaden the world of established heroes. Love and Thunder exemplifies just this, as one of Thor’s greatest villains is a stand alone one who will likely never be seen again.