Christian Bale on entering the MCU with Thor: Love and Thunder : 'I've done what? I haven't entered s---'
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Don't expect the Dark Knight to be well-versed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Christian Bale claims he had no idea what the MCU was before he joined Thor: Love and Thunder. The Batman Begins star, set to make his Marvel debut as the villainous, goth-adjacent Gorr the God Butcher in the fourth installment of the Thor franchise, shared as much in an interview with Total Film Magazine published Tuesday.
When asked if he had any reservations about playing another comic book character following his stint as Batman, Bale dismissed the notion: "Absolutely not, no," he said. "That didn't even enter into my head at all. I'd read that, and people would go, 'Oh, look at this! He's entered the MCU!'"
Bale continued, "And I'd go, 'I've done what? I haven't entered s---, thank you very much.' I'm like, 'The MCU?' I had to ask what that was."
Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher in 'Thor: Love and Thunder'
To embody the role of the baddie, Bale had conversations with director Taika Waititi, who wanted to incorporate a dance sequence featuring the stylings of Kate Bush, who is enjoying quite the cultural resurgence right now. "There's obviously sort of a Nosferatu slight attitude," Bale said. "Taika and I wanted to do a whole dance, which we didn't get to do, but we had all this sort of Kate Bush stuff that we worked at. But I think he just realized he was never going to be allowed to put that in the final film."
Bale also said he made the mistake of googling the comic character. "You sort of go, 'I know what he does.' It's right there in the name, isn't it?" he said. "But I did make the mistake of googling him and, oh no! [In the comics] he runs around in a G-string all the time. And I thought, 'They don't have the right man for that!'" Fortunately, Waititi nixed the G-string. "But I always did think what he could do with this in front of a blue screen," Bale added. "He could chuck on whatever he wants later on."
Love and Thunder will follow the titular thunder god (Chris Hemsworth) as he embarks on a journey unlike any other: one for inner peace. His retirement plans are thwarted, however, by Bale's Gorr, a disillusioned believer bent on killing all the gods after experiencing personal heartbreak. Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Russell Crowe, and Waititi also star in the film out July 8. Watch Bale's introduction as the G-string-less villain in the trailer below.
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