Christian Bale shaved his head to appear as Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder, but that was something he just couldn’t do for the reshoots. It was therefore left to the practical effects and make-up team to transform him back into his fearsome villain, part of the process for which has been revealed in some behind the scenes photos. As an actor who has gone to great lengths to portray characters on screen, a few hours in the make-up chair was apparently not issue for the latest Oscar-winning actor to join the Marvel family.

As expected of an actor who has lost and gained substantial amounts of weight for certain roles, Christian Bale when on in when transforming into Gorr the God Butcher. For the initial round of shoots he shaved his head to turn himself into the character without the need for prosthetics, but due to not being able to do so when reshoots came around a special effects team were tasked with creating a bald bap for the actor to wear that would give him an identical appearance. Thanks SFX artist Bart MIxon, we now have a look at the extraordinary piece of work they created. In a post on Instagram Mixon commented:

“Christian Bale was unable to shave his head for the THOR reshoots - as he had done the year before during principal photography - so a bald cap was required. After seeing our test director Taika Waititi exclaimed “that looks great - now we no longer need bald people!” Once this Odd Studios created prosthetic was applied we could the turn him into Gorr, the God Butcher. We mostly worked on the stunt double but @villasenor_hugo , @wasnerkevin and I did do Christian Bale for two days worth of shooting - using wonderful prosthetics from @odd_studio ! Bale was no stranger to prosthetics, have worn them to become VP Chaney in VICE - now he was playing Gorr - coincidence? I don’t think so…”

Related: Taika Waititi Addresses The Possiblity of Thor 5

Christian Bale’s Gorr Gained A Huge Reaction From Test Audiences

While discussing the upcoming movie with Fandango, Thor: Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi and star Chris Hemsworth discussed what Christian Bale brings to the role of Gorr and how audiences will see a different type of villain in the character. Waititi said:

"I'd say he's the most sympathetic villain they've had. He's also tested the highest of any villain Marvel has had."

Unlike many CGI-created villains in the world of film, Marvel have always attempted to bring something that links back to the actors behind the characters in their movies. Even the CGI creation of Thanos has Josh Brolin at the heart of the performance and the appearance of the character. When it comes to Gorr, Chris Hemsworth added that Bale brings everything you would want and expect from the performance. He said:

"[He brings] exactly what you'd want, hope, and expect. It's nuance, complexity, depth, a sort of quirkiness to it that I didn't see on the page. And with any sort of classic villain, the fact that you find yourself empathizing or asking questions that they're asking, or ideas that they're posing, it's not just stock standard sort of evil villain."