There’s been much discussion about the changes made to Gorr the God-Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder, with some fans having problems with the decision to make the deity-destroying villain appear more human in the incoming Marvel movie. Still, that was likely an unavoidable consequence of Christian Bale being cast in the role. Having landed the former Batman star, the studio was hardly going to make him look unrecognizable.
On the other hand, director Taika Waititi and his team decided not to show off as much of Bale as they could’ve done. In the comics, Gorr isn’t exactly a modest sort of guy as he tends to go around in nothing but a black cloak and Doctor Manhattan-like thong. The film version, by contrast, likes to wear all-white robes. But this wasn’t always made clear to Bale as he’s revealed that he initially worried he’d have to run around set in a semi-nude state.
In an interview with Total Film (via Games Radar), The Dark Knight actor admitted that he was at first apprehensive about playing Gorr as a quick Google search made plain the character’s revealing comic book costume. Even once he signed on, he suspected Waititi might CGI a thong on him in post-production!
As Bale explained:
“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. And 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.”
Bale ended up getting away without showing too much skin in Love and Thunder, but the same isn’t true of his co-star Chris Hemsworth. The trailer has unveiled a moment that fans have been waiting to see since 2011 (yes, you have, admit it) — Thor in the nude. Waititi has joked that it would’ve been “a crime against humanity” if he hadn’t made the Australian icon strip off for the film.
The outcome of the much-anticipated Gorr vs. Thor battle will finally be discovered when Thor: Love and Thunder hits theaters on July 8.