Through three solo adventures in the MCU, Thor has more often than not found himself facing off with members of his family as primary antagonists. Thor: The Dark World featured Malekith and Kurse, but even there Loki’s machinations featured prominently in the story. Thor: Love and Thunder breaks free of that pattern, bringing one of Thor’s most terrifying villains from Marvel Comics into the MCU: Gorr the God Butcher, played by Academy Award-winning actor Christian Bale. And according to Hemsworth, Bale’s work with the character was so special that he became Hemsworth’s favorite MCU villain.
He’s my favorite villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I love everyone I’ve worked with, but this was particularly special. And a lot to do with what Christian said before, there’s this empathic quality there, there’s a vulnerability. You kind of find yourself going, oh what’s he’s doing is wrong, but I get the sort of motivation behind it. And every time you work with someone different, different characters that bring different things out of you, and that was the case here. And yeah, he did an incredible job.
Chris Hemsworth
It’s high praise indeed, given that Hemsworth’s Thor faced off against his brother, played brilliantly by Tom Hiddleston, his sister Hela and, most notably Thanos, who sent the god of thunder down a dark path. It’s hardly surprising that Bale delivers big in his performance, however, because he’s never been known to mail in a performance. Audiences won’t have long to wait to see where Gorr fits on their lists of favorite MCU villains as Thor: Love and Thunder hits theaters on July 8th.
