While we wouldn't go so far as to say Christian Bale was wasted in Thor: Love and Thunder, it doesn't feel like we saw anywhere near as much of Gorr the God Butcher as we should have. The actor has confirmed that his scenes with The Grandmaster and Eitri the Dwarf were cut, and given the movie's fast-paced nature, we're sure other big moments were also scrapped.
That aside, many comic book fans were disappointed early on that the villain's design had been grounded in reality. Bale still looked pretty terrifying, but just how different might Gorr have been if he'd had more in common with his counterpart on the page?
Well, thanks to some concept art shared by Aleksi Briclot, we now know!
"This one was made not long after Bale was [cast] for the role. I was aiming for a blend between the comics features (here the tentacles at the rear of the head) and the actor likeness (the face)," the artist explains. "Most of the tries we did making the nostrils close to the comics character ended too often with the same comment: 'It’s Voldemort!'"
"[It was the] same thing for the really tiny panties from the comics. We’ve chosen to get rid of [those] as the result was weird or disturbing."
Gorr is one of those characters who needed to have his appearance overhauled for live-action, but we can't deny that this version feels like a better take than what ultimately ended up on screen. Also below is a second alternate design that moves away from the comics and is a little more original (similar to what ultimately ended up on screen).
We don't anticipate seeing more of Gorr in the MCU, and it will be interesting to see if Bale has much to say moving forward about how much of his work was cut from the Thor: Ragnarok sequel.
Thor: Love and Thunder is now playing in theaters.