Principal photography on Taika Waititi’s Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel Thor: Love and Thunder may have ended at the beginning of June, but every major blockbuster undergoes reshoots to make sure that nothing has been overlooked or missed out as the assembly cut starts to get hammered into shape behind the scenes.
Chris Hemsworth’s fourth solo outing as the Odinson is currently filming pickups in California, and some eagle eyed amateur photographers have managed to capture the first look at Christian Bale in costume as villain Gorr the God Butcher. During the entire shoot, Love and Thunder managed to keep its big bad completely under wraps, with the only glimpse of Christopher Nolan’s Batman we saw revealing he had a bald head and enjoyed strolling on the beach.
As you can see below, it would be an understatement to say that we’ve never seen Bale like this before, even with his status as one of the industry’s most chameleonic actors.
Obviously it looks bizarre when he’s either standing against a bluescreen or hiding under a cloak to keep things under wraps, but it appears to be a fairy comic-accurate representation of Gorr the God Butcher. The fearsome antagonist has the potential to be one of the MCU’s greatest-ever villains based entirely on Bale’s involvement, because he very rarely if ever delivers a performance that’s anything less than totally dedicated and committed.
Bale is just one of five Academy Award winners involved in Love and Thunder alongside Waititi, Natalie Portman, Russell Crowe and Matt Damon, so we’re guaranteed some powerhouse performances in what’s still poised to be an insane intergalactic adventure that’s twice as crazy as predecessor Ragnarok.