In terms of the physical transformations that have largely defined his career over the last two decades, playing an intergalactic alien warlord is probably set to be one of Christian Bale’s easier gigs. After all, getting into character as Gorr the God Butcher in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Thor: Love and Thunder is going to require at most some prosthetics and CGI enhancements, a far cry from the lengths that the Academy Award winner typically goes to in order to embody his roles.
Bale famously lost 62 pounds to attain a gaunt and skeletal look for The Machinist, only to pile on over 100 pounds of muscle immediately afterwards because his very next movie was Batman Begins. He then dropped weight again for Werner Herzog’s survival thriller Rescue Dawn, yellowed his teeth and shaved a bald spot into his head for The Fighter, got big once more for American Hustle before slimming down and buffing up for Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods and Kings and then gained 60 pounds to play Dick Cheney in Vice.
New photos have now revealed the actor hanging out during his downtime on the set of Taika Waititi’s sequel, and as you can see below, it’s clear that he hasn’t put himself through the physical wringer for Love and Thunder, but that’s a mighty shiny head nonetheless.
#ChristianBale #ThorLoveAndThunder #Gorr pic.twitter.com/zrPlBAIQ55
— 🚀 (@TheGeek_Zone) April 18, 2021
In the comic books, Gorr the God Butcher typically has very pale skin and two tendrils coming out of his head, but it’s unclear if Thor: Love and Thunder will be using mo-cap or good old fashioned prosthetics to bring him to life. The most likely outcome is a combination of the two, and while we won’t be seeing Bale in full costume for a while, the mere thought of him playing an MCU villain is exciting enough on its own.
