‘Thor: Love And Thunder’ Concept Art Gives Christian Bale’s Gorr A Comic-Accurate Design

The final look might have been the right choice.

Thor Love and Thunder Christian Bale Gorr the God Butcher Marvel MCU

Newly revealed concept art for Thor: Love and Thunder shows that Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher was initially going to look a little more like his comic-book counterpart.

Christian Bale’s performance as Gorr the God Butcher was one of the high points of the MCU’s latest theatrical release, Thor: Love and Thunder. The character was redesigned to look a little more human for the movie, allowing Bale’s performance to shine through.

However, early concept art reveals that designs that borrowed more heavily from Gorr’s appearance in the comics were initially considered for the Marvel movie.

Christian Bale Sports Gorr’s Head Tentacles

In the comics, Gorr the God Butcher had two tentacles trailing from the back of his head, something that was included in early designs for his Thor: Love and Thunder counterpart.

The early concept art, shared by artist Aleksi Briclot on Instagram, still preserved Christian Bale’s face – Briclot and Taika Waititi have both mentioned that adhering to Gorr’s noseless look from the comics resulted in him looking too similar to Voldemort from the Harry Potter franchise.

As well as including the tentacles on Gorr’s head, these early designs for Thor: Love and Thunder show him wearing armor. The first of the two designs shared by Aleksi Briclot shows Gorr in white armor with molded musculature, evoking the look of his exposed body from the comics.

Check out the early Gorr designs below:

Interestingly, the first of these designs has ended up looking a little like a Twi’lek from Star Wars, a race with similar tentacles (or “lekku”) on their heads.

While the designs stick closer to the comics, the end result is not as chilling as the minimalist approach to Gorr’s final look in Thor: Love and Thunder. The armored appearance also detracts somewhat from the image of Gorr as a spectral figure on a spiritual mission. The final look was definitely the way to go for a truly terrifying Marvel villain.

Here is the synopsis for Thor: Love and Thunder:

The film finds Thor (Chris Hemsworth) on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced – a quest for inner peace. But his retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who – to Thor’s surprise – inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor. Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.

Directed by Taika Waititi and produced by Kevin Feige and Brad Winderbaum, the Thor solo film stars Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Jaimie Alexander, Taika Waititi, Russell Crowe, Natalie Portman, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper.

Thor: Love and Thunder is now playing in theaters. Stay tuned for all the latest news on the film and be sure to subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original video content.

Source: Instagram