Because of the funny roles he takes as an actor, and his recognizable comedic sensibilities, Taika Waititi is frequently lauded for his brilliant ability to make movie-goers laugh – but not to be ignored in that praise is just how terrific he is when it comes to crafting drama as a writer/director. Of the seven films he’s made, What We Do In The Shadows (which he co-directed with Jemaine Clement) is really the only straight comedy, as the other six all find ways to blend heart and emotion into the mix.
This very much includes Thor: Love And Thunder – and the shifting tones are actually something that star Christian Bale found surprising about the new film.
In the upcoming Marvel blockbuster, Bale plays the villainous Gorr The God Butcher, and the character’s story in the film is much darker and more serious than the plotline following the on-going adventures of Chris Hemsworth’s titular God of Thunder (which gets downright goofy at times). During the Thor: Love And Thunder press day this past weekend, I asked the actor about the influence that this dual tone on his performance and approach, and Bale explained that it’s an aspect of the film that he greatly appreciates and that he didn’t fully expect:
Taika [Waititi], yeah, he uses music, he uses his great sense of humor. [There’s] an absolute wonderful sincerity and emotion. It is a beautiful film. And I think people will expect it to be bloody funny, and it is, but it is also incredibly moving as well, which is very surprising.
With less than two weeks to go before the theatrical release of Thor: Love And Thunder, it would be unfair at this time to detail the precise ways that the Marvel Cinematic Universe feature balances the light and the dark – but I will note that it is something that will audiences will recognize instantly when watching the movie, as it opens with some serious and heavy drama before digging into the “cosmic fun” side of things.
Obviously it’s a very different kind of comic book movie for Christian Bale as well. Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, which features Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, doesn’t feature much humor at all, and the actor was clearly impressed with Thor: Love And Thunder’s ability to balance both.
Featuring a stacked cast including Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Christian Bale, and definitely not Tom Hiddleston, Thor: Love And Thunder will by flying into theaters everywhere on July 8 – and tickets are on sale now. If you need to do some refreshing in terms of everything that has been going in the MCU to date, allow me to recommend my Marvel Movies In Order guide, and you can watch/rewatch all of the Thor and Avengers movies with a Disney+ subscription.
