Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Studios, has come in defense of the Christian Bale-portrayed MCU supervillain, Gorr the God Butcher. When it comes to Thor: Love and Thunder, Taika Waititi’s stylistic flair did not fare well the same way it had with Thor: Ragnarok. Longtime fans of the franchise were quite wary to see most of the premise reduced to repetitive comedic patterns. There was a mass outcry and a barrage of critical remarks thrown at the face of the Chris Hemsworth-led endeavor.
One such range of criticism stems from people’s bewilderment at how Gorr, a well-celebrated, menacing comic book supervillain, and his depiction were tackled. Starting with how he was represented in the movie to the meager screen-time awarded, Taika Waititi’s iteration of the God Butcher was thoroughly resented.
There is no doubt that Christian Bale, the actor responsible for embodying the essence of the Thor 4 supervillain, precisely nailed the portrayal. However, fans, ever since the movie’s release, have believed that a comic-accurate version would have sufficed better, especially when it concerns character design. Kevin Feige, on the other hand, seems to be challenging the notion.
Kevin Feige’s Defense For MCU Gorr
In Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Thor: Love and Thunder, the Disney+ documentary sang the song of praises for Taika Waititi. Throughout the presentation, everyone upheld the director’s honor, only having the most positive to associate with the endeavor.
Naturally, when the topic of Gorr, the well-received villain who suffered a lack of detailing and screen-time in the film, came up, Kevin Feige was seen defending the character design approach that was taken by the New Zealand filmmaker.
Following is what the producer had to say:
“Gorr the God Butcher has an awesome look in the comics. We wanted to tap into that. But had we done exactly that translation, we would’ve lost all of Christian. So we made the decision early on that we didn’t want him to be a motion capture character.”
Therefore, the decision taken by Taika Waititi was an attempt to capture the potential of Christian Bale’s compelling screen presence. Feige, on further elaboration, stated:
“There are incredible ways of doing that [mo-cap], but with this particular actor in this particular character, Taika really believed, rightfully so, that we could achieve that with makeup.”
What can be ascertained from such statements is that there were initial desires to have a comic-book-accurate Gorr in the film by implementing adequate CGI. However, as reinstated by Feige, such attempts were scrapped in favor of encapsulating the creative prowess of Christian Bale.
Instead, the reliance on make-up, acting, and Bale’s micro-expressions were established for Gorr’s MCU representation – which did attract an array of disapproval from many.
In the comics, the antagonist, who resembled an alien-like entity with tentacles protruding from his head, did not have a human look to his design. Far from it. He also misses a nose, which Taika Waititi wanted to modify in the film. In his own words, “His face in the comics, unfortunately, does kind of resemble Voldemort.”
While Feige may choose to defend the modifications, there is no denying that MCU’s Gorr lacks character design elements that could’ve made him more threatening, compelling, and persuasive.
The Praises For Christian Bale
In the documentary, besides the explanations given to substantiate and justify Gorr’s MCU design, many others emphasized how uber-talented actor Christian Bale, renowned for endeavors such as The Dark Knight Trilogy, American Psycho, Little Women, etc., embellished the premise of Love and Thunder by nailing Gorr’s depiction to utmost perfection.
Following is what Taika Waititi had to say about the actor:
“Christian is someone I’ve admired for many, many years. Obviously, he’s one of the greatest, I think. Possibly the greatest actor that’s working at the moment.”
Therefore, while Thor: Love and Thunder may have reaped a mixed reception, with people hailing it as one of the worst MCU films ever, the Disney+ documentary goes to show the amount of effort, dedication, and craftsmanship put into it.
While fans mourn the loss of a reality where comic-book-accurate Gorr could’ve existed, Christian Bale has made an active, earnest, and devoted attempt to create a long-lasting impression in the minds of the audience – becoming one of the film’s redeeming aspects.
Thor: Love and Thunder is available for streaming on Disney+.
Source: The Direct
