Thor: Love and Thunder could see its villain, Gorr the God Butcher, draw some sympathy from the audience. Following on from the climactic events of Avengers: Endgame, Love and Thunder sees the titular deity on a mission to find inner peace. However, Thor's plans are scuppered when he has to assemble a team made up of his old allies, including Korg, Valkyrie, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and his ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (now Mighty Thor). Together, the group are set to fight against Gorr the God Butcher who, as his name implies, is on a mission of deicide.
A relatively new character to the Marvel canon, Gorr was born on a harsh planet with no name, and grew up in a society that worshipped gods despite no god ever coming to their aid. With the death of his partner, parents and children, Gorr developed a deep hatred for gods and sought to kill any and all that he encountered. Unluckily, Thor fits the bill, and Love and Thunder sets the stage for a showdown between the God of Thunder and the God Butcher, played by MCU newcomer Christian Bale.
By the sounds of things, however, Gorr's depiction in Love and Thunder might not end up being so black-and-white. In an interview with Fandango, director Taika Waititi, along with stars Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, described the “nuance” of Gorr, with Waititi saying that he’s “the most sympathetic villain” the MCU has seen. Similarly, Hemsworth outlines that the Gorr isn’t a “stock standard evil villain,” while Thompson points to Stan Lee’s philosophy for superheroes as a descriptor for Gorr’s complex backstory and past trauma. Read the Love and Thunder team's full quotes below:
Hemsworth: "[Bale brings to Gorr] exactly what you'd want, hope, and expect. Nuance, complexity, depth, a sort of quirkiness to it which I didn't see on the page. With any sort of classic villain, the fact that you find yourself empathizing or asking questions that they're asking or ideas that they're posing. It's not stock standard evil villain."
Thompson: "You like root for them sometimes, for him sometimes."
Hemsworth: "Which is great when you're playing the hero and everyone's rooting for the villain."
Waiititi: "I'd say he's the most sympathetic villain they've had. He's also tested the highest out of any villain that Marvel's had."
Thompson: "It's also the thing that Stan Lee talked about, right? Which is that your trauma is the thing both that makes you a superhero and a villain. Right? It's just in the case of a villain it's unchecked. That your source of pain is what manifests into your villainy. And I think he captures that so well. And he's also just so surprising, y'know? He just would make choices that you'd be like, 'Oh?' Just so fun to watch, and such dexterity, and also what he did with his body, and he's really in it in the way that you would assume Christian is, but he also has a sense of humor about it."
For those who have enjoyed the fresh and unique energy that Waititi’s helming of the Thor franchise has brought to the MCU since Ragnarok, this is certainly exciting news. Not only is the director continuing to bring his trademark comedic edge to proceedings, but it appears as if Love and Thunder will be fixing one of the few gripes that audiences had with Ragnarok: a typical and somewhat less interesting villain in Hela. The complex characteristics and sympathetic backstory that Waititi, Thompson and Hemsworth describe Gorr as having tease that the final confrontation in Love and Thunder may carry more emotional weight — which is interesting given that Hela was Thor's sister.
All in all, Love and Thunder is shaping up to be another very different MCU entry from Waititi entirely, and previous trailers have increased already sky-high anticipation. Part of this will no doubt be due to its more nuanced villain, and with a veteran actor like Bale playing the God Butcher, it wouldn’t be too much of stretch to assume that Gorr will be joining the upper echelon of popular MCU Big Bads. For Thor and his gang of misfit deities, Gorr represents the most dangerous threat faced yet, but may capture the hearts of some viewers along the way.
Source: Fandango
