Marvel missed a big chance with a god-slaying villain in Thor: Love and Thunder.
The expectation for Thor: Love and Thunder had reached a fever pitch, leading up to its release in July 2022. After the success of its predecessor, and with the return of Natalie Portman to the franchise and the MCU debut of Christian Bales, all signs point to a new commercial and critical hit for Marvel Studios. However, upon release, the film received mixed reviews from critics and fans alike. Some people had grown tired of director Taika Waititi’s humor, while others thought it might be time for Thor to put his hammer down for good. One of the the biggest problems is the film’s inaccessibility to a general audience.
Above all, one complaint that most seem to agree with is the way Gorr the God Butcher’s character is used and Christian Bale’s standout performance in that role. There are many factors that contributed to this, from directing to writing, to the general direction of the character. Let’s see why Gorr the God Butcher was wasted Thor: Love and Thunder.
Slaughtering out of the picture
When we meet Gorr as an ordinary mortal man struggling with his faith and wondering why the gods have abandoned him, his friends, his family and his home. When Gorr loses his daughter, he is drawn to a cosmic and unholy weapon, the Necrosword. After abandoning his god Rapu and killing him, Gorr vows to kill all the gods for their cruelty and betrayal of those who worship them. And that my friend, within 10 minutes of the movie, is the only “god slaying” we see from the God Butcher. We may even hear more shrieks from Thor’s flying pet goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr, throughout the film than Gorr sees the slaughter.
While this is partially understandable, Marvel Studios is owned by Walt Disney Studios and most Marvel movies rely heavily on their family-friendly elements. However, Marvel hasn’t been afraid to tackle darker themes before. Half of our favorite heroes got dusted off at the end of Avengers: Infinite War. Sure, no one asked or wanted a 2 1/2 hour carnage either. We meet Gorr as this guy who’s given up his faith, and by the time we see him again, he’s a straight-up god-killing psychopath, but we don’t see any of these actions. Even the death of Thor’s friend and fellow god, Falligar, is overlooked in the film. At the end of the film, the audience is asked to empathize with Gorr and the loss of his daughter, which is easy for them given the way he is presented throughout the film. More scenes where he kills gods, and maybe even some fan favorite characters, and you have a much more complex question to present to your audience as to whether you empathize with this guy or not.
And the Oscar goes to Gorr
Gorr the God Butcher is an extremely complex character in Marvel Comics history; he possesses far more depth than the film itself even begins to explore. A Marvel villain with one of the most complex histories we chose to be put on screen. When it was announced that Christian Bale was being cast as this villain in the fourth installment of the Thor franchise, we knew he was going to knock it out of the park. The performance Bale gives in the film is arguably one of his best ever, as he completely fell into Gorr’s character. Bale is known for putting 100% effort into every role he takes on and completely transforming himself to fit the character. His dedication to his craft is fully reflected in the film and he gives nothing but his 100% best with what is given to him. The problem is that sometimes what is given to him is not the best.
Not only was Gorr’s character wasted Love and Thunder, but wasted with it was an all-time performance from Christian Bale. Marvel has released compelling and deep villain stories in the past, including Killmonger, Thanos, and Scarlet Witch. Not only did these characters get a chance to grow and flourish, but they also paid off through the performances of the actors portraying them. What could have been the greatest villain performance of all time paired with an iconic on-screen villain was marred by a lack of focus on the character himself. This is understandable to some extent. After all, the movie is a Thor movie, not a Gorr movie, but the movie wasted Gorr the God Butcher nonetheless. Marvel fans can only hope that a potential Thor 5 takes a different direction from its predecessors.