Gorr The God Butcher is one of the most nuanced villains in Marvel comics. So there’s no surprise that Christian Bale gives a standout performance as the villain of Thor: Love and Thunder. His story is built on having empathy for Gorr and how the gods he worshiped ignored him. Following a similar storyline in the comics, Gorr loses his child due to starvation and brutal conditions and vows to show no mercy to Gods as they did unto him.
What’s so different?
Necrosword (right) (Thor: Love And Thunder)
Yet in the comics, Gorr loses his son, not his daughter. In both the film and comics, Gorr is widowed and relies on the Gods to help him survive his planet’s conditions. Gorr has a common goal in both iterations, the extinction of Gods for ignoring his prayers. A major difference was seen in Thor: Love and Thunder is the origin of the Necrosword. In the Thor franchise, it is now established that the Necrosword is connected to Hela, Thor’s sister which makes a ton of sense given the ripple effect introducing Knull so early could create. In the Marvel comics, however, Knull is the God of Darkness and the first to wield a symbiote as a weapon. That being the Necrosword, which can also be referred to as All-Black. All-Black is the original symbiote and introducing that would have many ramifications not only on the Thor franchise but the entire MCU, especially a potential Spider-Man 4 film. Another major difference is Gorr’s appearance.
How did Marvel gamble on the character?
Gorr does not have the large tentacles emerging from his head that fans have grown accustomed to. No CGI was used on Bale’s face or body. Making him look more human does bring more emotional gravitas and sympathy from the audience. This is a gamble that has paid off for Marvel, and more practical decisions like this could pay off in the long haul. With that being said, Christian Bale’s Gorr The God Butcher lands himself a spot among the quality MCU villains. Giving the audience reason for empathy, raw emotion, diving deeper into MCU lore, and great action/dramatic sequences. The villain of the film is cemented as a success. Gorr The God Butcher is one of the highlights of Thor: Love and Thunder thanks to Christian Bale’s performance.
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