The director, Waititi, and Marvel decided that a change that humanized the comic’s Gorr would be more suitable for Christian Bale’s portrayal.
In recent months, Marvel has focused on bringing some of its most important characters into the multiverse and, of course, all the participation they have had in history is what has driven their fans crazy.
Although these are shocking details that have changed the course of events and that will surely trigger other events for the multiverse, it is logical that these characters return with a radical change or receive their respective updates. This is not new, nor is it a secret that the franchise had different plans for the design of some of them and for some reason decided to make a significant change.
Marvel initially had other plans for Thor’s design.
In relation to the above, Thor: Love And Thunder is no exception to the transformations. This film based on the character of Thor -and a sequel to Thor: Ragnarok (2017)- premiered on July 8, 2022 with relative success at the box office. Although its predecessor was widely accepted and received much praise, this time the critics have had a wide range of opinions regarding the creative decisions made by Taika Waititi, the director, and his team. Meanwhile, an alternate design for Gorr, the Butcher God, has been revealed to us before Christian Bale was cast.
As we mentioned, some elements of Thor: Love and Thunder met with mixed reviews, Everyone seems to agree that Bale’s portrayal of his villain, Gorr the Butcher of Gods, has been magnificent.; so it could be said that it is one of the highlights of the film.
According to the story, Gorr, motivated by a tragic past, dedicates himself to hunting all the gods with the aim of exterminating them. During the bloody path he decided to take he meets Thor, Jane Foster’s powerful Thor (played by Nathalie Portman) and Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson). As in other roles that Bale has played, he debuted in Thor: Love and Thunder as the new character of the MCU with multiple praise from the public and critics.. So, Marvel Studios largely stuck to the original arc of the villain as he appears in the comics, though of course Waititi took some license when it came to Gorr’s appearance and behavior.
In fact, had it not been for these liberties that Waititi deemed appropriate for the adaptation, Gorr the Butcher of Gods would have bore a far greater resemblance to his print counterpart in Thor: Love and Thunder. But, fortunately for fans of the new villain, the franchise revealed an illustration created by Jackson Sze and shared it on his official instagram account. In the description of the image, the artist explains that he created the design long before Bale was chosen to bring Gorr to life.. You can see the concept art for yourself below:
The details shown in the image have their respective differences in terms of the representation of the character in the Thor: Love and Thunder movie. In this sense, we can see that Gorr’s original design had a more direct influence from his counterpart in the comics, especially because it highlights his almost absent nose, the tendrils that protrude from the villain’s neck and, to complete a terrifying appearance , his characteristic outfit. Interestingly, when Gorr’s first look was revealed in the promos and official trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder, the audience was somewhat upset due to the character’s design from the MCU, as it had been considerably altered compared to the original. comic character. But Waititi and Marvel decided that a somewhat more humane and sober version of Gorr would be more suitable for Bale’s brilliant performance..
Bale’s performance in the Thor sequel was pretty good, though judging by the villain’s fate within the film, it’s unknown if Gorr the Butcher of Gods will appear again in the MCU. In fact, if he didn’t come back, it would be a very disappointing thing for the public, as some of the fans even felt that Marvel should have given more nuance to Gorr’s story, since they were very interested in the character. We are not sure what will happen to him, but, fortunately, this significant change did not overshadow the performance of someone as renowned as Bale.