Christian Bale's Gorr the God Butcher isn't a straightforward villain in Thor: Love and Thunder. In Marvel Studios' next big-screen offering, Chris Hemsworth's Avenger will continue his MCU journey after the Infinity Saga. The actor re-teams with director Taika Waititi for Thor: Love and Thunder following the success of their first collaboration in 2017's Thor: Ragnarok.
A brand new adventure means brand new allies and foes for the God of Thunder. In Thor: Love and Thunder, Marvel Studios is bringing back several familiar faces to the big screen, such as some members of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Valkyrie, and Lady Sif. Meanwhile, the film is also set to introduce a string of new characters, including primary villain Gorr the God Butcher, marking Bale's return to the comic-book world after playing Batman in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. While the character is billed as the bad guy, it turns out that he may not be as bad as one would assume.
Through the D23 Magazine Spring 2022 issue (via Thor: Love and Thunder News), Hemsworth and Waititi talk about Gorr's motivation in the film. According to the filmmaker, Bale's character is fueled by a personal grudge against gods, which will make for an interesting dynamic with the God of Thunder. Meanwhile, Hemsworth claims Gorr the God Butcher isn't exactly a one-dimensional villain, as there's a humanity in him. Read their quotes below:
Waititi: Gorr’s backstory involves being wronged by the gods, and a lot of his motivation is getting revenge for these wrongdoings. We really wanted to explore this idea of religion, belief, and what it means to put your faith in a higher power. And because Thor is essentially a god, what does it mean for him to represent these gods.
Hemsworth: Gorr is not a straightforward villain. There’s a real complexity to him. It’s not black and white, what he’s doing. He has a truthful motivation, which I think makes for the most interesting kind of villain. You might not agree with how he’s going about it, but you understand why he’s been tipped over the edge and why he’s gone down this path. It’s a really challenging one for Thor, because the set of questions Gorr’s posing do hold some truth – but he can’t let Gorr destroy the universe in the process. That, I think, makes this a greater dynamic and not as predictable as the straightforward ‘Good Guy vs. Bad Guy’ scenario we’ve seen before.
While Waititi doesn't get into specifics regarding his motivations, it appears as if Marvel Studios is sticking closely to Gorr the God Butcher's Marvel Comics story. For the uninitiated, Bale's character suffers a massive loss with the death of his family, and he blames the gods for this tragedy. From there, he becomes a serial killer who only goes after gods, and since Hemsworth's Asgardian prince is one, he becomes one of his targets. That being said, the official synopsis for Thor: Love and Thunder implies that Gorr is also coming for New Asgard and its people, which forces Odinson to suit back up and return to battle after walking away from being a warrior.
The MCU is known for its one-dimensional villains; in fact, it's one of the franchise's weakest aspects, particularly in its early years. But over the last few, Marvel Studios has made a noticeable effort to rectify this issue. That seems to continue with Thor: Love and Thunder's Gorr the God Butcher. It will be interesting how Thor approaches his latest foe, considering that he can relate to the pain of losing his family. On top of that, the gods' failure to answer Gorr's plea for his family might trigger the God of Thunder's old guilt from his big Avengers: Infinity War failure.
Source: D23 Magazine (via Thor: Love and Thunder News)
