Thor: Love and Thunder will star one of Marvel's newer characters in the villain role, Gorr. First introduced in Thor: God of Thunder in January 2013, the villain will have an interesting angle when it comes to his big screen debut. As of right now, surprisingly little is known about Gorr's background, even in the comics. He is from an unknown planet of an unknown species of aliens. There are just too many unknowns, it's hard to keep track of what isn't known about this guy. What is known is a severely emaciated and weak Gorr was able to defeat two gods without really trying very hard at all. In doing so, he gained abilities that would gain him titles such as Gorr the Redeemer, Butcher of Gods, and the Black Butcher. How was he able to do this? Find out now in this edition of Comic Book 101.
Gorr's people, much like early humanity, believed in something greater than themselves. They prayed to gods for food, power, natural resources, rain, things all early humans prayed to their gods for, whether it be Roman, Greek, Egyptian, Sumerians, perhaps one not named Gozar. The list goes on. He began questioning the existence of these gods when he himself endured great tragedy: his family and children all dying of illness, weakness and starvation. His people cast him out for his questions and lack of faith, but he was ultimately proven wrong. Gods do exist, and he witnessed two of said gods fighting each other. One of the gods, Knull, the Klyntar deity, had his weapon merge with Gorr who then killed Knull's opponent: Gorr the God Butcher was born. He then swore an oath of violence against anyone that call themselves a god. He feels gods are conceited and care only for each other and no longer care for the ones that look up to him.
In his quest, he has slaughtered countless gods, and each seemingly makes him more powerful. His power set includes superhuman strength, speed, stamina, and durability. He can shape-shift and blend in with his surroundings. He can also wield his symbiote with its own defense systems. Additionally, he possesses a healing factor, because who doesn't, and he is essentially immortal. He can also create "berserkers," spin-offs of his symbiote, All-Black, the Necrosword. This all combines to make him a worthy opponent for anyone who has the misfortune of crossing him. This especially goes for Thor, who he has encountered several times over the course of his reign as The God Butcher,
Christian Bale Plays Gorr in Thor: Love and Thunder
Starting early off in his butchering days, Gorr encounters a young Thor, much like one that is seen in the first teaser for the film when Thor is dodging between trees. He almost even kills a young Thor, but Norse followers intervene. They are killed, but it enables Thor to get away. Gorr's big moment was almost eliminating every god in the universe using a sort of 'god' bomb. The bomb would have killed all gods, past, present, and future. A past version of Thor, Avenger Thor, and Elder Thor encounter the villain and combined, the three are able to stop Gorr when his son is filled with hatred of what his father has become, the monster he has made out to be. He gives Thor the power to absorb the bomb's blast when it goes off, which enables Thor to kill Gorr with the help of multiple Mjoiners. Had this not happened, Gorr really was holding his own in the immense fight and was likely going to reign victorious,
Given the current path of the MCU, and now that Natalie Portman is re-joining the battle as Mighty Thor, it's easy to see a version of this story pan out. We now know symbiotes exist in the MCU thanks to the after credits scene in Spider-Man: No Way Home so the arc of obtaining All-Black, the Necrosword would make sense as well. Marvel has a penchant for changing people, places, and things, but a lot of what you need for this story, frankly already exists within the current MCU. Another thing we know: Christian Bale will be playing the next bastard in a long line of bastards to challenge Thor, his people, and his friends. See what the end result is on July 8th when his next adventure takes off!
Thor: Love and Thunder will be released on July 8, 2022.