“Thor: Love and Thunder” will feature Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher from the Marvel comics. The character was actually partially used as an inspiration for the villain Hela in “Thor: Ragnarok”, according to director Taika Waititi.
For this upcoming instalment, we’ll finally get to see the villain come face-to-face with the son of Odin. Gorr the God Butcher is not your typical bad guy and will prove to be a formidable opponent for Thor to face.
As for Bale himself, the Oscar winner is widely known across the world among comic book fans for playing Batman in Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy. Moreover, Bale has been cast in several famous films such as “The Prestige”, “American Psycho”, and many more.
The Dark Knight actor will prove to be a fine addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) due to his star status and will play as Thor’s next villain in the fourth movie. Here are some interesting facts about the infamous villain, Gorr the God Butcher:
6. Gorr the God Butcher inspired the villainous character of Hela in “Thor: Ragnarok”
As mentioned earlier, Gorr was used as an inspiration for the main villain, Hela in “Thor: Ragnarok”. Gorr the God Butcher possesses a weapon called the All-Black the Necrosword. This blade was actually the same one the Goddess of Death used in “Thor: Ragnarok”. However, it was later revealed that the Necrosword was older and tied to Knull. So, within the MCU, it’s likely that Hela took the sword from Knull.
In the comic books, Hela actually wields a cursed blade named the Nightsword. However, in the third “Thor” film, they combined the Nightsword with the All-Black the Necrosword and had Hela posses more power than she did in the comic books. She could make the Necrosword wield tremendous effect with the formation of swords and spears strong enough to kill an army of Asgardians and destroy a spacecraft with ease.
The executive producer of “Thor: Ragnarok” Brad Winderbaum revealed, “A lot of the design of Hela is a combination of the early Jack Kirby stuff but also…especially his power set, the villain Gorr, who has a very specific power set of being able to manifest an infinite number of weapons. We are doing a version of that— not exactly— but a version of that for Hela in our movie because in the books Hela can kind of touch people and they die and sometimes she can do all sorts of different things and we really tried to specify and narrow it into very specific skill sets“.
5. He is one of Thor’s strongest enemies
In the second issue of the “King Thor” comic, the panels provide a look into the nature of Gorr the God Butcher and why he is so difficult to get rid of. Being more powerful than ever, the villain is a galactic threat even in the futuristic setting of the largely perishable universe of “King Thor”. Readers would know how difficult it is to defeat Gorr, even when looking back at what it took to annihilate the villain the first time.
Taking into account the drastically evil nature of his plans, the almighty King Thor was not going to let Gorr get away with his schemes. During a temporary alliance with his brother Loki, the two sons of Odin tried to resist Gorr’s attack as best they could, but it wasn’t enough. Gorr then unleashed the Anihilablade, which is the All-Black’s truest form, before destroying planets and shrugging off the thrown supernovas King Thor uses against his enemy.
4. He’s so strong that it took three versions of Thor to defeat him
It’s already established how crazy strong Gorr the God Butcher really is. Thor may be a powerful superhuman himself, but nearly all of his fights with the villain ended terribly. The Asgardian even needed backup with the present day and younger versions of Thor being transported further into the future alongside their more godlike counterparts. It was here that the Gods had a chance to take down Gorr once and for all.
With the God Butcher being so incredibly strong, they needed a three-man God army to defeat him. But even in peril, Gorr still obtained a specific victory over Thor, when the villain had a godless age to take control of him. This led to Thor losing faith in himself and becoming worthless to Mjolnir.
3. Gorr has a sad past and a perfect reason to be angry at the Gods
Gorr may be a ruthless sentient being, but even so, he has an emotional backstory of his own. If you’ve read Jason Aaron and Esad Ricnic’s “God of Thunder”, the God Butcher’s backstory is tragic as it progresses. He is an alien from a planet far away and has lost everything and everyone dear to him, which led to Gorr losing trust and faith in the Gods, who were apathetic in saving his family.
We don’t actually know his planet’s name at all, but his story begins 3000 years before the events of “God of Thunder”. It began with Gorr and his mother roaming the barren desert until she sacrificed herself to ensure Gorr’s safety. Years went by and Gorr got married and raised some children, but starvation sealed their fate. Arra, Gorr’s wife was pregnant and had always kept the faith. Unfortunately, she still perished in an earthquake. To make matters worse, Gorr’s last child Agar succumbed to starvation. This led to Gorr suddenly claiming that the existence of God wasn’t true, and got him cast out by his superstitious people.
2. Gorr is similar to Venom but more alien-like
If you back at the live-action adaptation of 2018’s “Venom”, fans can point out something very peculiar. The titular alien symbiote claims that a planet filled with other creatures like himself is out there. They are called Klyntar from the comic book versions. These creatures were made by Krull personally. His intention was to use the powerful symbiote for his own benefit of ruling over all of reality.
For Gorr’s weapon, the All-Black the Necrosword forms a fusion with Gorr and is actually a Klytarian symbiote, which then makes Gorr the Venom version of aliens. Don’t know how future Venom adaptations will fit Gorr into the films, but it will surely be a sight to see if it does happen.
1. New set photos of “Thor: Love and Thunder” shows Gorr’s homeworld
New set photos from ‘THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER’ seemingly confirms Gorr the God Butcher's homeworld in the film! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/BGTDLwqraO
— Cosmic Marvel (@cosmic_marvel) January 22, 2021
Across social media platforms and online websites, photos showcasing the sets of “Thor: Love and Thunder” were released last year. At that time, it was being filmed in Australia. Some of the photos surfacing online show a huge landscape filled with artificial sand dunes. Although the set may appear to be lacking loads of clues about its purposes, huge Marvel comic fanatics especially those who’ve read the Thor comics believe the land is a representation of Gorr’s home planet.
The planet was said to be a place with wide ranges of desert, rugged canyons damaged by earthquakes, as well as volcanic vents spewing toxic fumes. Even with such awful conditions where no one can possibly dwell, it’s still home to many types of species, which includes a tribe of sentient humanoids who wander through the canyons and deserts, praying to gods who neither exist nor are caring in the nights to come.
Gorr the God Butcher actually belongs to the unnamed desert planet in the comics, with their people living such miserable lives and offering their prayers to the gods to put a stop to their suffering. When his family all gave in to death, Gorr blamed the gods for not providing him any help or saving them. Because of that, he was labeled as an outcast and was rid from society.
Bonus:
First official look at Gorr the God Butcher
Thanks to a newly-released set of LEGO entitled “Goat Boat”, fans got a little tease of an intense battle between Gorr and Thor from the deck of the Asgardian ship. This marks the first official use of Gorr in a marketing material with the villain donning his mummy-like white drapes.
“Thor: Love and Thunder” is scheduled to release in July 2022.
