While Christian Bale is no stranger to superhero movies after playing Batman in The Dark Knight Trilogy, it was still a surprise to learn he had joined the cast of Thor: Love and Thunder. The actor has mostly avoided commercial blockbuster fare, so joining a massive MCU blockbuster definitely wasn't what we expected from him.
Not quite so shocking, however, is Bale's interest in working with director Taika Waititi. Talking to Total Film, the Oscar-winner explained his approach to bringing Gorr the God Butcher to life and credited the filmmaker with helping him craft the villain.
"Mostly hearing Taika's thoughts on it," Bale explains. "There's obviously sort of a Nosferatu slight attitude. Taika and I wanted to do a whole dance, which we didn't get to do, but we had all this sort of Kate Bush stuff that we worked at. But I think he just realised he was never going to be allowed to put that in the final film. I would say that the most common thing I was staring at was the Aphex Twin video of 'Come To Daddy'. But I don't even know if that will be in the final film."
Gorr dancing around to Kate Bush - who has made something of a resurgence lately thanks to Stranger Things - would have been quite something to see. It might have made him a little too silly, though the trailers and TV spots have pointed to a Gorr who is delightfully unhinged.
In the same interview, Bale was also asked if he ever imagined starring in another comic book movie after playing DC's Caped Crusader. "Absolutely not, no. That didn't even enter into my head at all. I'd read that, and people would go, 'Oh, look at this! He's entered the MCU!' And I'd go, 'I've done what? I haven't entered shit, thank you very much.' I'm like, 'The MCU?' I had to ask what that was."
Further reiterating his lack of MCU and Marvel Comics knowledge, the actor revealed his initial reaction to seeing who Marvel Studios wanted him to play. "You sort of go, 'I know what he does.' It's right there in the name, isn't it? But I did make the mistake of Googling him and, oh no! [In the comics] he runs around in a G-string all the time."
"I thought, 'They don't have the right man for that!' And then Taika quickly dispelled any notions of running around in that. But I always did think what he could do with this in front of a bluescreen – he could chuck on whatever he wants later on."
Seeing what Bale brings to the table as Gorr promises to be a lot of fun and early buzz points to the actor stealing the show in Thor: Love and Thunder. The villain has mostly been kept under wraps thus far, though all signs point to him being a major threat to Thor and his fellow Gods.
Thor: Love and Thunder is set to be released in theaters on July 8, 2022.