THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER Concept Art Reveals Monstrous Alternate Design For Gorr The God Butcher

Christian Bale's take on Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder was quite a departure from his comic book counterpart, but it seems Marvel Studios originally considered making the character look even more monstrous than he did on the page.

Concept artist Ken Barthelmey took to Instagram to share some of the artwork he created before Bale was cast in the role, and this early design takes the vengeful villain in a more alien, not to mention pretty damn terrifying, direction.

"Early Gorr the God Butcher design I did for Thor: Love and Thunder at Odd Studio, before Christian Bale got cast," Barthelmey captioned his post. "I loved Bale's portrayal of the character. Thanks to Adam Johansen for bringing me on board."

It's been reported that Gorr's appearance was altered because early make-up tests made Bale look a little too much like Harry Potter's Voldemort, but this might have been a step too far in the other direction! The Academy Award-winner did ultimately wind up looking sufficiently creepy as the God Butcher in the end - it's just a shame he didn't have enough screen-time to really flesh out the character.

Thor: Love and Thunder finds Thor (Chris Hemsworth) on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced – a quest for inner peace. But his retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who – to Thor’s surprise – inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor.

Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.

Directed by Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, Jojo Rabbit) and produced by Kevin Feige and Brad Winderbaum, Thor: Love and Thunder  is now playing in theaters.