History Lesson: Who Is Christian Bale's Gorr The God Butcher?

When it was announced that Christian Bale would be playing Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder, myself and fans of the character in the comics became extremely excited, and all the more hyped up for the fourth Thor movie. Gorr’s name says it all, he seeks to kill all gods, and to rid the world of their arrogance and misguided views towards humanity. Or so he believes at least. Gorr's god-slaying handiwork was seen in the trailer as Thor and Korg saw the remains of Falligar the Behemoth in a spot-on recreation from a moment in the comics. The official plot synopsis for Thor: Love and Thunder reveals that the film, "finds Thor 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, Korg and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster, 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 to stop him before it’s too late."

There are a few comics that the movie will be taking inspiration from, particularly the 2012 run “Thor: God of Thunder.” The story sees Thor trying to stop Gorr from detonating a God-Bomb, a device that Gorr created to send the entire universe into the Necro-Verse after the bomb were to annihilate every god in the known universe with the simple push of a button. Time will tell if Gorr will have such plans in the movie, but there's a reason Gorr is called "The God Butcher." This vindictive alien is basically a serial killer who only targets gods. Once a happy, humble family man, Gorr was forced to watch his family taken from him. Because his prayers to the gods for salvation went unanswered, Gorr decided that all gods are unworthy of the love and devotion that they seek from their worshipers. To prove it, he's devoted his immortal life to systematically ridding the universe of all gods. That includes Thor, the one god who once fought with the God Butcher and lived to tell the tale.

On his own, Gorr is just an alien with no amazing abilities, aside from a mastered talent for torture and interrogation. But after coming into possession of an ancient weapon called All-Black the Necrosword, Gorr gained immortality and a slew of other powers like enhanced strength, speed, durability, regeneration and flight. Gorr can even use the sword to create razor-sharp constructs and even living minions he calls “Black Berserkers.” Gorr's main weakness is that he's dependent on the sword for his power. That, along with his deeply buried self-loathing streak, proved to be his undoing. If the Necrosword’s abilities sound familiar, they should because it just so happens that the sword is the first Venom symbiote.

All-Black the Necrosword, or simply known as All-Black, is a malevolent dark deity that has existed for billions of years. It is said to be the first ever symbiote made and is regarded as the most powerful symbiote to date. While it has been bonded and wielded by different hosts, it's most well-known for being the weapon both created and wielded by Knull, the god of the symbiotes, who Gorr won the sword off of in combat, who also promised not to kill Knull. Like most symbiotes, All-Black possesses a will of its own and corrupts the minds of those who wield it. All-Black feeds off of the negative emotions of its hosts and enhances them to greater lengths as means to spread its chaos while fueling its hosts' bloodthirsty intentions. The only host it doesn’t corrupt, is Knull, due to him being its creator.

Gorr is a recent addition to Thor's rogues gallery, and my personal favorite, first appearing in 2012's “Thor: God of Thunder #1.” That series marks the start of writer Jason Aaron's long and beloved Thor saga (a saga which also deals with Jane Foster inheriting the mantle of Thor after Gorr made Thor unworthy.) The series sees Gorr as a once ordinary alien driven to madness by the deaths of his wife and children. He's then exiled by his fanatically religious tribe after denying the existence of gods. But after wandering the wastelands and witnessing a battle between two powerful gods, Gorr realizes something. He decides that if gods do exist but fail to respond to the prayers of their worshipers, then they don't deserve to live.

After claiming All-Black the Necrosword, Gorr gains incredible powers and begins his very long crusade to murder every god in the universe. That quest eventually brings him to Earth during the Middle Ages, where he captures a young Thor and tortures him for information about the gods of Asgard. Thor escapes and wounds Gorr, believing that he had killed Gorr. Instead, Gorr resurfaces in the present, forcing Thor to unite with his young, Viking Age self and an older Thor from the future to battle this god-ending threat. Gorr enslaves numerous gods and forces them to build a doomsday weapon called the God-Bomb, however, Gorr proves to be his own worst enemy. He creates a construct of his dead son Agar, who denounces his father's cruelty and labels him "the god of hypocrisy." Agar gives Thor the power to withstand the God-Bomb’s blast, and Thor uses the power of two Mjolnirs to end Gorr once and for all.

While Gorr has remained dead in the comics ever since, his influence continues to be felt in the Marvel Comics Universe. Gorr planted seeds of doubt in Thor's mind, forcing him to question whether gods truly are as noble and benevolent as they seem. Nick Fury seizes on that doubt in 2014's “Original Sin,” telling Thor that, "Gorr was right" which renders the god of thunder so disillusioned that he's no longer able to lift Mjolnir. That act paved the way for Jane Foster to inherit Mjolnir and become the new Thor. Only very recently has Thor regained his hammer and his confidence in himself.

While Gorr is gone, his sword remains. Recent comic book stories have revealed the true nature of All-Black the Necrosword, showing it to be a creation of Knull, the god of symbiotes like Venom and Carnage. Knull has been waging war against the Celestials and other powerful cosmic beings since the Big Bang, seeking a return to a time when existence was nothing but an endless, black void, known as the Necro-Verse. In his own way, Gorr was helping to further Knull's agenda. This a storyline that could very well happen eventually, and could possibly be teased in Thor: Love and Thunder as both Kevin Feige (Marvel Studios President) and Amy Pascal (President of Sony Entertainment) have said of late that they want to use Knull in future movies.

A version of All-Black the Necrosword was also used by Hela in Thor: Ragnarok, but thanks to Funko Pop figures that have been revealed, it seems like Gorr has a symbiote forming around his legs, hinting that he could be in possession of All-Black. During the destruction of Asgard, considering that All-Black is indestructible and cannot be destroyed, maybe Gorr picked it up as he was more than likely looking at the ruins of Asgard in delight.

A big part of what Marvel Studios seems to be doing since Avengers: Endgame, is corruption. Shang-Chi’s Wenwu was corrupt, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s John Walker/U.S. Agent became corrupt due the weight of Captain America’s shield, and Moon Knight’s Arthur Harrow became drunk with corruption thanks to Ammit. Gorr’s notion that all gods must die, and are sickening humanity with their lack of compassion, and of course with All-Black, he becomes as corrupt as they come. Christian Bale is an Oscar nominee and one fo the best actors in Hollywood; he will do a great job at bringing the God Butcher to life. Thor Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi even said, “In my humble opinion, we have probably the best villain that Marvel’s ever had in Christian Bale.”

I’m a big fan of compelling villains, particularly ones like Gorr and Thanos whose motives aren’t all that wrong. Ethically yes they are a little extreme, but they have great points and a strong reasoning to why they do what they do. It’s very exciting to see Gorr on the big-screen soon, and casual fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are in for a treat! You can witness the best Marvel villain created in over two-decades, July 8, only in theaters.