One of the big reasons to see “Thor: Love and Thunder” on the biggest screen possible this weekend is to witness Christian Bale’s return to superhero cinema. But the former “Batman Begins” star is on the other side of the moral divide this time around, playing fearsome villain Gorr the God Butcher. While absolutely terrifying in the role (Bale fully embodies him just like he does every other performance), the actor wasn’t so sure about translating the character exactly as he appeared in the comic books.
To prepare for the role, co-writer/director Taika Waititi gave Bale the Jason Aaron-penned run of comic books that introduced Gorr the God Butcher to the masses. And when Bale looked at the books he was intrigued … and slightly worried. “I did have a look briefly and said, ‘He’s got a G-string on. Nobody wants to see me like that,’” Bale told TheWrap in a recent interview (you can watch the video above).
“He was also crazy musclebound in the comics. And I was in the middle of making another film where I was really quite skinny. I said, ‘Dude, nobody wants to see me in a G-string.’ And there’s no point in working out at all because you can’t compete with Chris.” Together, Bale and Waititi agreed on a new version of the character; not as comic book-accurate but just as complex and scary.
Hear more from Bale, Waititi and co-stars Natalie Portman and Tessa Thompson in the video above. And watch “Thor: Love and Thunder” – in theaters now!
