One of the biggest complaints fans have had of the MCU is the lackluster, one-dimensional villain template they repeatedly use in many of their movies and now Disney+ series, as outlined by Vox. Aside from Thanos, Killmonger, Loki, and the Scarlet Witch, many of Marvel’s villains are rather forgettable. This is especially true of many of the origin stories in the MCU: Ant-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Marvel, and Eternals, for example. This is also true of some non-origin MCU sequel films like Thor: The Dark World and Iron Man 3.
The MCU has shown time and time again that they can create incredible characters that we as an audience can genuinely care about, characters that inspire us, and most importantly, per Screen Rant, relatable heroes. These superheroes may have god-like powers (in some cases), but they still have the real-life struggles that we in society face every single day. Audiences may not be able to relate to Thor’s ability to lift a magic hammer, but we can relate to his devastation after loving many of the people he loved.
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Taika Watiti’s Thor: Love and Thunder introduces a memorable villain with a terrifying look, an excellent concise backstory, and a beautiful redemption arc that leaves audiences sympathetic despite the atrocities he commits throughout the film. Christian Bale’s performance as Gorr the God Butcher is one of the best performances in MCU history. Our only complaint about Gorr is that we would have liked him to have more screen time. As with Gorr, the MCU should take time developing their villains just as they take time developing the heroes. This creates total audience devotion: when the audience is just as excited to see the villain on screen as they are for the heroes, it makes for a better film — and that is not an easy task. Going forward, we hope the MCU will follow this mold when bringing new villains into the MCU.
Concise Tragic Backstory That Provides Understandable Motives
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Gorr’s backstory in the MCU is similar to his backstory in Marvel Comics. He loses everything — in this case especially, his daughter. When he meets the god his tribe worships, he exposits that all of his worshippers are dead from the harsh conditions of the planet, which is roughly on par with what happened to Gorr’s tribe in the comics. As the pretentious god mocks Gorr, calls him a dog, and tells him that dying for your gods is one’s only purpose in life, Gorr immediately denounces not only his god but all the gods, and as the Necrosword chooses him, he makes the vow, “All gods will die.” For someone who has lost everyone and everything he cares about, being angry and wanting revenge is something to which many of us can relate. Feeling utterly betrayed by the gods and imbued with the power of the Necrosword, Gorr embarks on his journey to rid the universe of the petulant, uncaring gods. The motivation is clear-cut in Thor: Love and Thunder, and Gorr’s tragic backstory sets the stage for him to fully unleash his rage on the deities that did nothing to help him and his family in their time of greatest need.
Misguided, Corrupt, Yet Sympathetic
Throughout Thor: Love and Thunder, Gorr commits heinous atrocities, slaughtering gods across the universe. Gorr is on a mission, and the audience understands why. His reasoning, while never justifiable, does help the audience understand that Gorr isn’t just some maniac who got ahold of a powerful weapon and decided to go on a serial deity-killing spree. This is a man who has lost everything, including his daughter who died in his arms. He is a broken man doing what he feels he must do in order to avenge his daughter.
Even when Gorr kidnaps the children of Asgard, he has no intention of killing or harming them. They are merely used as a device to lure Thor and, more specifically, Stormbreaker to the shadow realm so that Gorr can access the gates of Eternity, a being at the center of the universe who will grant the wish of the first person to reach them. Gorr’s goal is to go to Eternity and wish for the extinction of the gods. There is one scene in particular when Gorr is talking to the children, trying to scare them, but he sees a young girl amongst the crowd and tells her that she reminds him of another girl, obviously referring to his dead daughter. In this short yet emotional scene, we see Gorr’s anguish, and the audience is reminded why he’s doing what he’s doing. Gorr is the villain of this film, but, compared to other MCU villains, Bale magnificently balances cruelty and despair throughout the film, making him one of the most memorable and sympathetic villains in the MCU, giving Thanos and Killmonger a run for their money.
Terrifying Tone and Appearance
Bale’s physical transformation throughout the film is one of the many fascinating aspects of Gorr’s character. He begins the film looking human, but as the Necrosword corrupts him, he becomes more and more scarred and disfigured. This is a side-effect of wielding the Necrosword. The use of greyscale and lack of color on Gorr adds to the creepy nature of his character and the shadow realm. Referring back to the scene where Gorr is speaking to the children, he goes from bone-chillingly spooky to almost goofy. Bale took this character and made it his own. As such, Gorr will go down as one of Bale’s more unique acting achievements. That is saying a lot for the man who brilliantly portrayed the Caped Crusader in the Nolan Dark Knight Trilogy, his Oscar-winning performance as a former boxer turned crack addict in The Fighter, and so many other memorable performances.
Change of Heart and Redemption
Gorr achieves what he sets out to do. He reaches Eternity and opens the gate using Stormbreaker. Thor and Dr. Jane Foster, aka The Mighty Thor, could not stop Gorr. Just as Thor failed to stop Thanos in Infinity War, he could not stop Gorr from reaching Eternity. It was Gorr’s change of heart that prevented the extinction of the gods. Gorr chooses love over hatred and revenge when Thor tells him he can bring his daughter back. Gorr makes his wish and brings his daughter back, redeeming himself in the process. Before he dies, he shares a tear-jerking moment with his daughter, and Thor assures him that his daughter will be looked after. Gorr dies in peace, fully redeemed, knowing his daughter is safe.
Gorr the God Butcher is one of Thor’s most famous rivals in Marvel Comics, and many fans are sad to see Gorr do a one-and-done. Unlike villains like Thanos and Kang, the MCU chose not to build Gorr’s introduction into the MCU over several films, presenting him as the next big threat to the heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse. Instead, they chose to use Gorr similarly to Killmonger. They introduced him in a solo film as the main antagonist to our heroes in that film. Love and Thunder felt very isolated from the rest of the MCU, especially after exploring multiple realities in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. While the stakes in Thor: Love and Thunder don’t feel quite as high as Avengers: Endgame, not every MCU film is meant to feel like an epic crossover. In fact, building the solo films leading into the crossover films has proven to be a winning strategy for Marvel Studios.
While Gorr did die in Love and Thunder, that does not mean we’ve seen the last of the God Killer. With the Multiverse in play and the introduction of variants, no MCU character — hero or villain — is definitively dead. We could see Gorr return in a variety of different ways. Regardless of what the future holds, Gorr serves as a bright shining example of how to build a unique and interesting villain that is not just an obstacle for the hero to overcome, but is well-rounded with understandable motives.
