Academy Award winner Christian Bale has been spotted in full-costume as Marvel villain Gorr the God Butcher. The actor was spotted while filming upcoming MCU sequel Thor: Love and Thunder in Malibu, California, with the images giving us a good idea of what the cosmic villain will look like in his live action debut.

The only sight of Christian Bale's MCU introduction so far has been images of the actor sporting a shaved head, but these new shots show him in full glory as the god-killing villain. Taking several cues from the Marvel source material, including a black cloak and silvery skin, his face, which still looks pretty human in appearance, seems to lack the more monstrous qualities of his comic book counterpart. Based on these images though, it looks like Bale's role as Gorr will involve a lot of prosthetics and make-up as opposed to the CGI character that many had expected.

While we now have a good look at Gorr the God Butcher, his role in Thor: Love and Thunder largely remains a mystery. Born on a planet with no name and living every day on the brink of starvation, Gorr was taught to trust in the gods, but they never answered his prayers. After living a tragic life filled with death and struggle, Gorr abandoned his belief in the Gods, which led to his exile. While wandering the desert close to death, Gorr witnessed a pair of battling gods and, realizing that they did indeed exist, they just didn't care, Gorr became enraged. Bonding with the dark god's sword and thus transformed into an amorphous mass of living darkness, Gorr's hatred of the gods leads him on a revenge mission across time and space.

How closely Thor: Love and Thunder will stick to this origin story remains to be seen, as the franchise has become well-known for taking inspiration from the comics while reinventing things for the MCU. With Christian Bale on board though, Gorr is sure to be an intense, unstoppable force for Chris Hemsworth's Thor to contend with.

While further plot details for Thor: Love and Thunder remain largely under wraps, we do know that Natalie Portman will reprise the role of Jane Foster, and that her role will be much more...super-heroic than before. The actress previously commented on her character's return, confirming that she will indeed suit up as The Might Thor, and that her version of Thor will share the screen with Chris Hemsworth's, "There's still the other Thor - the original Thor." Portman has even since revealed that she will wield the God of Thunder's coveted hammer, Mjölnir, in the movie with the actress proclaiming proudly, "I do, I do," in response to being asked whether Foster gets to take the weapon as her own.

Alongside Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher and Chris Hemsworth as The Mighty Thor, Thor: Love and Thunder will also feature roles for the Guardians of the Galaxy, Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie, Jaimie Alexander's Lady Sif, and Russell Crowe, who joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Zeus. Thor: Love and Thunder is scheduled to hit screens on May 6, 2022. This comes to us courtesy of The Daily Mail.