At their recent Investor Day event, Disney dropped a whole bunch of exciting announcements regarding the different franchises that it’s affiliated with. Amongst them, is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel Studios went on to reveal a bunch of new projects (12 new TV shows, to be exact!) that will be made available on Disney+. They also confirmed a few details about their slate of Phase 4 movies – including the antagonist for the upcoming ‘Thor: Love & Thunder’.
After months of speculation, Marvel has now confirmed that Christian Bale (aka, you know, DC’s ‘Batman’) will be taking up the role of the villain in the fourth instalment of the Thor franchise. Tessa Thompson (who plays ‘Valkyrie’) had previously told ET of the casting,
“Christian Bale is going to play our villain, which is going to be fantastic. I’ve read the script. I can’t tell you much. Lots of exciting text messages exchanged between Natalie and I. We’re going to have fun. Taika is writing [and] directing. Some familiar faces. Some new people coming into the mix.”
Now, we know who Bale will be bringing to life on the big screen and it’s: ‘Gorr the God Butcher’.
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While this news definitely adds fuel to the fire of anticipation for the movie’s release, it has also raised A LOT of questions. The first of them being…
Who is ‘Gorr The God Butcher’?
Ngl, Gorr’s backstory kinda makes one feel for the villain.
Gorr’s first appearance was in the 2012 comic ‘Thor: God of Thunder #1’ and his backstory is a heavy one.
Growing up on an unnamed planet, amongst a community that was on the brink of starvation, Gorr was taught to trust the ‘Gods’ and to devote himself to them in order to keep his loved ones safe. However, Gorr ends up losing his parents, wife and children. This caused him to question the existence of Gods, making him an outcast in his community (as they held onto their beliefs). However, after leaving his community Gorr ends up wandering the desert, where it is here that he stumbles upon a fight between Knull (an ancient malevolent deity) and a God. When the God begs Gorr for help, something in Gorr snaps. He is engulfed with rage – after all, no Gods helped him when his family perished one by one – and Knull’s sword (‘All-Black the Necrosword’) reacts by transforming into a mass of living darkness that bonds to him (*keep this fact in mind! It may already seem familiar to MCU fans), allowing him to kill the God.
From this, Gorr the God Butcher is born. Despite being with no abilities of his own, All-Black the Necrosword allows him to gain immortality, enhanced strength, speed, durability, regeneration and flight. The “tendrils” created by the Necrosword can kill gods, an ability of which Gorr takes full advantage. It even allows him to create razor-sharp constructs or living minions that he dubs the ‘Black Berserkers’.
What does this mean for the ‘Thor: Love and Thunder Plot’?
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Gorr and Thor’s relationship go a loooong way.
Despite only having been introduced 8 years ago, in the comics, Gorr makes contact with Young Thor, who he tries to kill (but fails). Over time, as he goes on to slay more and more Gods, Gorr grows stronger. Throughout the span of their relationship, time travel allows for multiple variations of Thor (‘Young Thor’, ‘All-Father Thor’, ‘Thor the Avenger ‘) to make appearances as they battle to triumph over each other. In the comics, Thor the Avenger ends up becoming unworthy of Mjolnir, as the battles with Gorr makes him also ponder the question of the authenticity and purity of Gods. Loki also plays a part in the comics and the whole Gorr vs Thor saga (hmmm will this allow for producers to secure more screentime for ‘Bale as Gorr’ in the ‘Loki’ TV series?)
PLUS…
Remember how Knull was mentioned in the battle that ultimately birthed ‘Gorr the God Butcher’? The comics would later show that Knull was the creator of the ‘All-Black the Necrosword’ and thus, making him the God of Symbiotes – yes, like ‘Venom’, ‘Carnage’ and even the symbiote that to Peter Parker to make the black suit ‘Spider-Man’. This could be the pathway to having ‘Venom’ appear in the MCU.
*Cover image credits: Instagram / @christianbale.fans
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