Many fans questioned the appearance of Christian Bale’s Gorr in Thor: Love and Thunder’s trailer reveal, and the actor has explained why he changed.
Marvel Studios
Since the first images of Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder dropped, there have been some complaints about the lack of comic accuracy in the character’s appearance. While there have been many theories as to why this is, according to the actor himself, it seems that it was mostly down to a matter of not having the time to bulk up to the level required to bring Gorr to life in his comic book form.
While speaking in a recent interview with ComicBook.com, Bale discussed his thoughts about the character when coming into the project, and his initial reaction that he would not be able to portray that exact character on screen. He explained:
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“I was coming off of a film where it had been necessary to be sort of rather lacking in muscle and then I saw the images and thought, ‘Well, that’s not gonna be possible… and this g-string thing that’s going on there.’ He looked in the comic books like physically, you know, someone to reckon with though. And I said, ‘Well, you know, that’s just not gonna be possible in the state I’m in. And we literally have three days between me finishing one film and heading over to Australia for the quarantine and whatnot. I like to usually have much more time in between, but the pandemic meant that things got worked out that way.”
Bale added that for that reason, the ultimate look of Gorr leaned more into his powers being supernatural rather than down to brute strength, something which Bale believes “works really effectively” in the movie. It seems from early reviews that this could have been a good call.
Related: Christian Bale Worried He Would Be Running Around in a G-String to Play Gorr
Christian Bale’s Performance as Gorr Dismisses Any Appearance Complaints
MCU
When it comes to the translation of certain characters from comic books to screen, fans of the source material are very vocal about changes made to the original characters. Recently, Marvel Studios has had to deal with the initial backlash to Gorr’s more human appearance, as well as gripes about the initial CGI She-Hulk design seen in the trailers, and the alterations made to Ms. Marvel’s powers in order to enable her to work in the MCU’s continuing narrative.
It is clear from early reactions, that an actor the caliber of Christian Bale doesn’t need a character to look like a complete monster on screen for him to bring out a terrifying character. However, like many of Bale’s performances, the character of Gorr is not simply a two-dimensional villain, and has many layers, all of which are brought out by Bale in his performance.
While the reaction of the majority of fans is still to come, it is clear that there is something special about Gorr, and something that will allow him to connect with audiences on a level beyond just being the movie’s villain. No matter what his appearance, that is something that rests solely on the shoulders of Christian Bale, and it seems that he has more than risen to the challenge.
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