Thor: Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi hypes up the arrival of Academy Award-winning actor Christian Bale to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In a summer movie preview with the Associated Press, Waititi offers some insight into the sequel, and calls Bale’s bad guy Gorr the God Butcher “the best villain that Marvel's ever had.”

"It's a great, really fun, weird little group of heroes, a new team for Thor with Korg, Valkyrie and The Mighty Thor. And, in my humble opinion, we have probably the best villain that Marvel's ever had in Christian Bale."

As well as name-dropping Thor’s latest team of allies, the filmmaker took the opportunity to talk up Christian Bale’s villain, calling him the best that the franchise has ever seen. The subpar caliber of Marvel's villains is often a subject of criticism, but it does mean that Gorr will beat out the likes of Thanos, Eric Killmonger, Green Goblin, Wenwu, and the rest. Known for playing DC hero, Batman, Christian Bale’s role as the supervillain in Thor: Love and Thunder came as a surprise to many. The character must be something impressive to have persuaded the impressive actor to switch sides, and those who are familiar with Gorr will know the sheer threat he poses.

Introduced during Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic’s comic book run, Gorr is born on a planet with no name and lives every day on the brink of starvation. He was taught to trust in the gods, though they never answered his prayers, and after living a tragic life, Gorr abandons his belief in the Gods, leading to his exile. Wandering the desert close to death, Gorr witnesses a pair of battling gods. Realizing that they do exist, they just don’t care, Gorr becomes enraged and bonds with the dark god's sword, transforming into an amorphous mass of living darkness.

His hatred of the gods leads him on a violent revenge mission across time and space, and that mission is expected to be explored in Thor: Love and Thunder. Alongside King Valkyrie, Korg, and The Mighty Thor, they will embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher's vengeance and stop him before it's too late. With Gorr’s epic backstory and the hugely talented Christian Bale in the role, Taika Waititi’s high praise is not hard to believe.

Thor: Love and Thunder Will See the Asgardian Going Through a Midlife Crisis

Aside from Gorr cutting a brutal path through the MCU, Thor: Love and Thunder will find the titular Avenger dealing with his place in the world. “Thor is just trying to figure out his purpose, trying to figure out exactly who he is and why he's a hero or whether he should be a hero," Waititi explained. "I guess you could call it a midlife crisis."

Directed by Taika Waititi, who has co-written the screenplay alongside Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, Thor: Love and Thunder stars Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Jaimie Alexander, Chris Pratt, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper.

Thor: Love and Thunder is scheduled to be released on July 8, 2022, as part of Phase Four of the MCU.