Thor: Love and Thunder's villain Gorr apparently tested very well with audiences and could be the franchise's best villain yet. The fourth entry in the Thor film franchise, Thor: Love and Thunder is drawing heavily from Jason Aaron's recent run in the Thor comics which spanned 2013 to 2019. Aaron's tenure on the title saw Jane Foster become the Mighty Thor but also introduced Gorr the God Butcher.

Introduced in Thor: God of Thunder #1, Gorr is an alien on a path of vengeance looking to kill all the gods in the Marvel Universe after discovering none of them did anything to save his family. The Dark Knight star Christian Bale was cast as the villain and audiences got their first official look at him in Thor: Love and Thunder's second trailer. Gorr's appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder make him the newest villain from the comics to make their way into the MCU, as he was created after the franchise started in 2012, so Marvel Studios and director Taika Waititi clearly saw potential in the character.

Related: Gorr’s Tragic Origin Can Make Him The MCU’s Most Sympathetic Villain

With the film less than a month away, Waititi is hyping up Gorr in what could be one of the MCU's best villains. In an interview with Fandango All Access to celebrate the tickets for Thor: Love and Thunder going on sale, Waititi says that Gorr received the highest score of any Marvel villain from test audiences who saw the film. Waititi also teased the villain's sympathetic nature, which may have attributed to the audience's positive reaction and makes for a promising sign for the movie. Waititi said:

"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."

thor 4 gorr the god butcher

Despite the MCU's success, a criticism of their early films was aside from Loki they had a villain problem, often just dark mirrored versions of the hero. Yet Marvel Studios did turn that criticism around with a string of well-recieved villains like Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Kilmonger in Black Panther, and Thanos in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Many of these characters alongside Ego in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Wenwu in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings are often regarded so Gorr has some big shoes to fill.

The decision to adapt Gorr into the MCU, along with casting an Academy Award-winning actor like Bale could be one that pays off for Marvel Studios. Thor: Love and Thunder was one of the most anticipated films of summer 2022 by a poll from Fandango, and if the villain is as great as Waititi says and the film is a crowd-pleaser it could overtake Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as Marvel's big summer movie. Whether it will be able to beat Top Gun: Maverick as summer 2022's biggest film remains to be seen.

Next: MCU Villains Who Could've Stopped Thanos Before Infinity War

Source: Fandango All Access

Key Release Dates