Thor: Love and Thunder's villain, Gorr the God Butcher, is set to be one of the MCU's most powerful villains, and Christian Bale's inspiration for the character will make him the perfect adversary for Thor. Thor's Gorr the God Butcher is a relatively new Marvel comic character, having debuted in January 2013. As his name implies, the Love and Thunder villain hates gods and vowed to kill them all after they didn't answer his prayers to save his family from dying. After thousands of years of slaying gods, Gorr eventually met and tortured Thor to get information about the Asgardians.
Christian Bale will make his MCU debut as Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder. The Academy Award winner is no stranger to superhero movies, having famously starred as Batman in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy, and also has years of experience playing villainous characters, most notably Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. As well as drawing on his movie's source material, Christian Bale often incorporates other ideas and references to bring his characters to life, something that he has continued to do in Thor 4 to make Gorr the MCU's most exciting new villain.
In a recent promotional interview for Thor: Love and Thunder, Christian Bale revealed that Nosferatu, one of cinema's most iconic vampire characters, was one of his main influences for Gorr the God Butcher. With his pasty skin and sharp teeth, Bale's villain certainly bears a close resemblance to Nosferatu, and Gorr's black and white aesthetic will differentiate him from the colorful heroes in Taika Waititi's Thor movie. The Love and Thunder trailers show Bale's Gorr borrowing some of Nosferatu's signature expressions and frightening body language, which makes for an exciting prospect because that's the exact opposite of Chris Hemsworth's inner peace-seeking Thor.
Surprisingly, Christian Bale also drew inspiration from Kate Bush and wanted to include a dance scene in Love and Thunder. While that plan was scrapped, the Thor: Love and Thunder trailer suggests that Gorr's fighting style has been partially influenced by Kate Bush's distinctive dance style. In a brief clip of Gorr fighting with Valkyrie, Bale's villain makes low swooping lunges and twists as he battles the Asgardian, similar to the movements Kate Bush makes in her famous "Wuthering Heights" music video. Giving Gorr a unique style of combat will set him apart from Thor's past foes, and making his movements rhythmic will more subtly reinforce how skilled and comfortable he is at slaying gods.
Aphex Twin's music video for "Come To Daddy" is the final influence for Gorr cited by Bale. In the video, a horrifying, pale-skinned creature terrorizes an innocent old lady. The physical appearance of the MCU's Gorr is similar to that of the creature, and it's easy to see why Bale would also want Gorr to share its scary and intimidating nature. The MCU still has plenty of the horror genre to explore, so making Bale's Gorr the God Butcher a nightmarish villain inspired by classic and terrifying characters should make him the perfect counterpart for Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder.
