We recently got our official confirmation from Thor: Love and Thunder star Tessa Thompson that Christian Bale is set to play the main villain in the God of Thunder’s fourth solo adventure, although most people already figured that would be the case. With Chris Hemsworth’s title character, Thompson’s Valkyrie and the returning Natalie Portman set to take up the mantle of Thor, things are looking pretty stacked on the heroic side of things.
That being said, memorable bad guys have frequently been a problem for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but having an actor of Bale’s caliber onboard is one of the most exciting pieces of casting that the studio have announced in a long time, especially with freshly-minted Academy Award winner Taika Waititi returning for Love and Thunder, promising to double down on the madness he brought to the series with Ragnarok.
There’s already been plenty of speculation about who Bale’s big bad could end up being, with Beta Ray Bill a popular choice among fans, but a new rumor offers up an interesting theory, one that could potentially introduce Greek mythology into the MCU, and also ties into our report that Jai Courtney is being eyed to play the comic book version of Hercules.
Per the latest rumor, Bale could be playing Ares, the Greek god of war that has plenty of previous ties with Thor in the comics. As well as giving the God of Thunder a similarly-powered enemy to face off against, bringing Ares and possibly even Hercules into the MCU establishes that both Greek and Norse gods are more than just myths, referencing the ‘science vs. magic’ debate that’s always been part of the Thor franchise since the beginning.
With Odin, Heimdall and this timeline’s Loki all dead, the MCU is running low on gods, and with The Eternals set to shake up the cosmic side of things when it drops later this year, a whole new world of super-powered mythological figures could power Marvel’s intergalactic stories for the foreseeable future if the report on Bale playing Ares in Thor: Love and Thunder turns out to be true.
