With Thor: Love and Thunder, audiences will be introduced to a new villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Gorr the God Butcher. This deadly foe is one of the most popular villains in Thor's comic history, being one of the few forces to actually strike fear in the God of Thunder when he was an arrogant, young god. Even when he matured, the thought of Gorr's return terrified him. Expectations for the villain are high, but with an actor like Christian Bale in the role, many are even more excited. During a press conference attended by CBR, not only did Chris Hemsworth confirm Gorr is his favorite villain in the MCU, but Bale also dove into the appeal of this role and what he thought the studio was looking for.
"I think in Gorr, they look for an actor polar opposite [of Chris Hemsworth]," Bale said. "Someone not relatable, a bit of a loner, creepy -- someone no one wants to be around, and nobody wants to see his ass. So I think they went, 'Yeah, we found it in Bale.'"
Where Thor is a hero who represents what a god should do, fighting for people in need and inspiring mortals across the realms, Gorr is someone disillusioned by the gods. He not only plans to kill all gods, but he will not let anyone get in his way, carving out a menacing figure who audiences can find intimidating, but they may also understand where he's coming from given his backstory. He's also fun to watch, and as Bale pointed out, "there's a great pleasure in playing a villain."
"It's a lot easier to play a villain than it is to play a hero," Bale explained. "Chris had a much tougher job. Everyone is fascinated with bad guys. The beauty of it is that Taika [Waititi] can make it bloody hilarious and then really moving as well in this story. Then, I don't know if it's pushing it too much to say sympathy, but certainly, you sort of understand maybe why this guy is making awful decisions. He is a monster, and he is a butcher, but yeah. [There's possibly] a little understanding of why he came to be that way."
Until now, audiences have only gotten a few glimpses at the gods in the MCU, whether that be the Asgardians in the Thor films or the Egyptian gods from Moon Knight. Now, viewers are set to meet other deities, who seem to be letting down mortals, and Gorr has had it. Like his comic counterpart, blind faith in the gods has caused him nothing but pain. As Hemsworth pointed out, it's hard not to relate to the pain he is going through.
"He's my favorite villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe," Hemsworth added. "I love everyone I've worked with, but this was particularly special and a lot to do with what Christian said before. There's this empathic quality there; there's a vulnerability. You kind of find yourself going, 'Oh, what he's doing is wrong, but I get the sort of motivation behind it.' Every time you work with someone different, [there are] different characters that bring different things out of you, and that was the case here. He did an incredible job."
Meet the latest MCU villain July 8 with Thor: Love and Thunder.