The entire saga surrounding Christian Bale’s participation in director Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder has been pretty wild so far. With this news moving quickly from early talks to speculation about who he would be playing in his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, there’s been very little time to rest and catch one’s breath. Well, friends, worry no longer, as King Valkyrie herself, Tessa Thompson, has confirmed that Bale will be the bad guy with a very simple, but cryptic statement.
During a red carpet interview at the premiere of Westworld Season 3, Tessa Thompson dropped the news in this short snippet:
Christian Bale is gonna play our villain, which is gonna be fantastic. Yeah, it’s gonna be good.
Right about now, there are a bunch of MCU fans who just punched the air, as quite a bit of speculation has pegged Bale as playing a couple notable figures of villainy in Thor: Love and Thunder’s still mysterious story. Though, knowing Marvel Studios and its veil of secrecy, the current candidates are certainly not the only characters in play.
Of course, as you’ll see in the coverage that ET Online scored while talking to Tessa Thompson, it’s key to note that no specific villain has been mentioned for Thor: Love and Thunder’s developing story. So while we know that Christian Bale will be the antagonist for the next round of Asgardian mayhem, the subject of who that sinister presence will be exactly is still open for discussion.
Most notably, Christian Bale’s big bad has been suggested to be one of two huge potential adversaries. In one corner, there’s already been chatter and fan art that have suggested that Mephisto would be the demon to beat in Thor: Love and Thunder’s speculated plot. It’s kind of hard to ignore that Christian Bale could give off some charming, but dangerous vibes in such a role.
However, Thor comic writer Jason Aaron has thrown his own two cents into the ring, stating that he thinks the man who was once DC Comics’ Batman could play a more grounded menace. With the character of Dario Agger in the mix, Bale could see himself playing a “sometimes Minotaur” who has done everything from pollute the Earth as the CEO of in-universe conglomerate Roxxon Oil to literally suing Thor in court.
The bad news with this new Thor: Love and Thunder scoop is that eager audiences still don’t know anything more about who Christian Bale is playing and how he’ll act as a thorn in the sides of Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Tessa Thompson’s King Valkyrie and Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster; a character who will also be wielding the power of the Mighty Thor herself.
There is some good news though: you’ll probably read more stories about people asking Taika Waititi to confirm who Christian Bale is playing, thus distracting people from continuing to ask about whether Jane will be running through her cancer storyline or not.
Thor: Love and Thunder strikes like thunder on November 5, 2021, with principal photography slated to start this August. Needless to say that as soon as any new details are brought to light about Christian Bale’s shadowy character, we’ll report back with those updates as they occur.
In the meantime, feel free to glance at the Upcoming Marvel Movies schedule, with release dates for this and other future Marvel Studios releases.
