If you’re wondering who the villain character is in Thor Love and Thunder, the simple answer is that its Gorr the God Butcher. However, that doesn’t tell you much about what makes him tick and why he’s trying to kill Thor.
If you hadn’t connected the dots from his reveal in the trailer, Gorr the God Butcher is played by Christian Bale. While the bad guy looks a little underwhelming in the trailer, we’re hoping that the actor’s skill in front of the camera is enough to make him a credible successor to the villain characters that the God of Thunder has had to face in the recent past.
AdvertisementCate Blanchett did an amazing job in the destruction of Asgard as Hela in Thor Ragnarok, following up on strong outings from Christopher Ecclestone as lord of the Dark Elves Malekith in 2 and Colm Feore as Laufey in the first film. If that isn’t enough for Christian Bale to compete with, he’s also got the Machiavellian machinations of Loki, played brilliantly by Tom Hiddlestone.
And then there was Josh Brolin as Thanos, who continued the decimation of Thor in both Infinity War and Endgame. When you look at it like this, there’s a lot riding on the might of Bale in Thor Love and Thunder to deliver the kind of bad guy performance that can give the film real impact.
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Just who is Gorr the God Butcher?
AdvertisementThe good news is that the villain has got a pretty impactful back story. He might be a relatively new character to Marvel, but he’s picked up a ferocious reputation along the way. He made his debut nine years ago in the opening edition of Thor God of Thunder in 2013 and very nearly ended things for Odinson.
RELATED: What will be the next Thor movie after Love and Thunder?
Gorr doesn’t have a named planet or species as such, so he’s still a little enigmatic, but we do know that he is on a mission to end things for all gods throughout the universe. The tragic loss of his family led him to question the existence of gods, thinking that they must not be real in a world of such horrors.
AdvertisementHowever, when he goes on to find out that they do in fact exist, but did and do nothing to save people from misery, he vowed to exact his revenge. Obviously, to kill all of the gods he would need a bit more firepower, and he got just that when he managed to acquire a powerful sword called All Black from another Marvel super-villain called Knull.
With the Black Sword, and the power it conveys to him, Gorr goes on a rampage of destruction against any and all deities he finds. In the comics, the God Butcher initially meets his match with Thor, but he goes on to escape and wracks up a high tally of godly deaths.
This again brings him into direct combat with Thor, but with aeons of destruction under his belt he’s a whole lot stronger than he was the first time around. However, just as it looks certain that Gorr will add the Herald of Thunder to his hit list there’s a Deus Ex Machina save that signals the end for the God Butcher.
How all of this will translate for the villain of Thor Love and Thunder is still to be revealed. The trailer doesn’t go into too much detail, so its going to be interesting to see how director and co-writer (alongside Jennifer Robinson) Taika Waititi has spun things around for Gorr the God Butcher.
For example, in the comics, there’s a time travel spin to the ending, along with elements of reincarnation, so there’s a lot of creative room for the film. There’s also the threat of the Godbomb, which Gorr constructs to eliminate all gods throughout the timeline.
The options double with Love and Thunder introducing Natalie Portman as an alternative version of the Thunder God, Mighty Thor. Clearly, she’s going to be in Gorr’s sights for elimination, but she’s also going to fight against him, so Waititi has got a lot of scope to close out the film and its bad guy.
Thor Love and Thunder trailer featuring Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher
We’ll update with more details on Thor Love and Thunder as they become available and you can check out our film news section to keep tabs on the latest, or visit the Marvel movie news page to see more on the movie at https://www.marvel.com/articles#promo-2.
