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The motors of the Marvel Cinematic Universe continue to rev, as director Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder steams ahead with its production. Ford v. Ferrari star and former Batman Christian Bale playing the film’s main adversary, Gorr the God Butcher. But the shoot has yet to yield any sneak peeks of this mysterious presence; which is odd considering what we’ve already seen revealed. That dry spell is about to break though, as the first photos of Bale’s antagonist have surfaced online.
Obviously, these aren’t studio sanctioned photos, as The Daily Mail has once again grabbed some secret looks at Thor: Love and Thunder’s big bad. But from what we can see, Christian Bale’s Gorr looks pretty close to the character’s appearance in the comic. From head to toe the Academy Award winning actor is absolutely grey, wearing an equally grey costume that consists of head scarf and a robe. With the addition of some facial prosthetics, Bale is definitely looking menacing, but not totally unrecognizable.
Announced as Gorr the God Butcher at last year’s Disney Investor Day, Christian Bale’s Thor: Love and Thunder baddie has always sounded like a piece of work. Literally, his name has the title “God Butcher” in it, and Gorr lives up to that label with his mighty weapon, All-Black the Necrosword. So this first look at the character does a good job of physically matching up to the expectation.
Thor's time in the MCU so far is on Disney+. You can use this link to sign up for the streaming service.
The gloom and doom of Gorr the God Butcher is, of course, only part of the buffet that Taika Waititi will be laying out for fans in his follow-up to Thor: Ragnarok. With the man himself claiming that Thor: Love and Thunder could possibly be even funnier than the previous film, it’s not just going to be slaying gods and taking names. Especially when Chris Hemsworth looks to be meeting Zeus, as played by Russell Crowe, this time out.
As Cate Blanchett’s Hela proved in Thor: Ragnarok, there’s room for menace and merriment, as dark humor provides quite the tie that binds between both halves of this hero’s journey. Thor: Love and Thunder only seems to serve that purpose all the better, especially after seeing Christian Bale’s gravitas in some slightly obscured, but still powerful, first images. Those official looks are only going to be all the sweeter once they drop from the Disney camp.
Sadly, we’re probably going to have to wait quite a bit for such a look, unless this November’s Eternals has some sort of post-credits teaser linking into Thor: Love and Thunder’s big plot. Regardless of that speculation, Chris Hemsworth intends to face off against Christian Bale in theaters on May 6, 2022. If you want to see what the competition looks like for that weekend, take a peek at the unobscured, clear as day 2022 release schedule. It’s ok, you’re allowed to see it, even though it’s still 2021; we’re all friends here.
