With just a few months away from the planned release of Thor: Love and Thunder, merchandise for the film have offered a new look at Christian Bale's villainous Gorr the God Butcher. Originating in Thor: God of Thunder #1 in January 2013, the character was created by writer Jason Aaron and artist Esad T. Ribić. Gorr is an alien who after discovering that gods exist in the Marvel universe and they failed to save his family, goes on a hunt across the universe to kill them all, becoming one of Thor's most formidable foes.

Taikia Waititi has said Jason Aaron's Thor run greatly inspired his work on both Thor: Ragnarok and the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder as apparent with the presence of Jane Foster as the Mighty Thor, a development that was made during Aaron's run on the title. Bale, who was famous for playing Batman in The Dark Knight trilogy, was cast as the film's villain in January 2020 and was finally revealed as Gorr the God Butcher during the Disney Investor Call of December 2020. While moviegoers still wait for the first trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder, now only three months away from release, it appears that the first look at Bale's character has been spoiled through the film's merchandise.

Related: Who Is Gorr the God Butcher? Christian Bale's Thor 4 Villain Explained

Toy leaks, via The Direct, offer a look at the upcoming line of Marvel Legends figures based around Thor: Love and Thunder set to hit toy shelves. One of the boxes offers a new look at Bale as the villain Gorr, who looks slightly different from his comic book counterpart. Instead of a flat face, they seem to have painted Bale white and put him in white robes as opposed to the character being trapped in a black material made from his sword.

Gorr the God Butcher appears in Marvel Comics.

Click here to view the image of the Thor: Love & Thunder toys

A notable element of Gorr that is present with the toy is his black sword, which in the comics is called the Necrosword. In the comics, The Necrosword was created by Knull, the god of the symbiote, which is the species of popular characters like Venom and Carnage. Given Venom's status as a main feature in the Sony Spider-Man Universe, it is unlikely the sword will have the same symbiote origin but it could tie into a host of other various cosmic elements of the MCU. The Necrosword is just one of many ancient mysterious weapons the MCU appears to be introducing like the Ten Rings, The Darkhold, and the Ebony Blade.

Toy leaks have often been the first unofficial look at a lot of big-budget superhero projects. For example, the full MCU look of She-Hulk has come from upcoming merchandise. While the initial look may seem odd on a toy, the first proper look at the character in Thor: Love and Thunder's trailer will likely translate better, and if the film is to meet its July release date a trailer will likely arrive soon. Bale certainly has some big shoes to fill. The last Batman actor to step into an MCU villain role was Michael Keaton as the Vulture, and Thor's past enemy Loki is still one of the most popular in the MCU.

Next: Thor: Love & Thunder Trailer Just Broke The MCU's Worst Record

Source: The Direct

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