Fans would recognize Christian Bale prominently for his role as Batman in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy, but the actor also made his much-awaited debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Thor: Love and Thunder as Gorr the God Butcher. Bale’s first experience working on a Marvel film using state-of-the-art devices was surprisingly not very exciting for him.
Love and Thunder used The Volume, a high-end visual effects technology that eliminates the need for green screens. It was first used on Disney+’s The Mandalorian, and, later on, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Created by Industrial Light & Magic, The Volume uses a large soundstage comprised of several LED video walls that display computer-generated surroundings.
Christian Bale Isn’t Thrilled With Thor 4’s Use Of Soundstage Production
Speaking with GQ Magazine, The Prestige star Christian Bale described his experience working on Thor: Love and Thunder:
“That’s the first time I’ve done that. I mean, the definition of it is monotony. You’ve got good people. You’ve got other actors who are far more experienced at it than me. Can you differentiate one day from the next? No. Absolutely not. You have no idea what to do.”
Bale was referring to the various stages erected at the production area. With the use of The Volume, actors will now have to perform in front of LED walls instead of green screens. He continued:
“I couldn’t even differentiate one stage from the next… They kept saying, ‘You’re on Stage Three.’ Well, it’s like, ‘Which one is that?’ ‘The blue one.’ They’re like, ‘Yeah. But you’re on Stage Seven.’ ‘Which one is that?’ ‘The blue one.’ I was like, ‘Uh, where?’”
Despite his underwhelming comment on the Love and Thunder production, Bale did an exemplary performance as the villain of the story. The film received mixed reactions from fans, but the American Psycho actor was critically praised for his portrayal of Gorr, with some fans even claiming it better than Josh Brolin’s Thanos.
Russell Crowe Praises Marvel For Its Innovative Way Of Making Movies
Meanwhile, Marvel star Russell Crowe defended the comic book industry and proudly mentioned his portrayal of various characters across different franchises (via Deadline):
“Somebody finally twigged, that, in DC, I’m Superman’s dad; in Disney-Marvel I’m Thor, which is Hercules’ father; and in Sony-Marvel I’m Kraven the Hunter’s father.”
Discussing the growth of the comic book enterprise and its expansion within the market, the Gladiator star praised the filmmakers for their improvement over the years:
“You know, the filmmakers that they’re using, and the assets they’re giving those filmmakers, are getting better and better and better. And it is now probably simpler to give more nuance to the characters because the audience has grown [with them].”
The 59-year-old actor also noted the evolution of creating superhero movies, from their humble beginnings working with green and blue screens to using LED walls:
“Maybe the first few of these comic-book movies had to be very simple, but now the audience has grown up with them, and they want that nuance, you know? I think at first there might have been a misconception about the way comic-book films were made and [having to work] against blue-screen. But now they’ve changed.”
Despite mixed reviews, Thor 4 was still a success for Marvel Studios, grossing over $760 million globally and justifying its production budget worth $250 million.
Thor: Love and Thunder is available to stream on Disney+.
