After a noticeable absence in the initial teaser that premiered online back in April, Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher finally arrives in the latest trailer for Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder. His design for the movie isn’t as monstrous as it is in the comics, but he’s still got a Christopher Lloyd/Uncle Fester thing going on (see above) that we really dig. Originally created by the duo of writer Jason Aaron and artist Esad Ribić in the pages of Thor: God of Thunder, the dreaded villain is on a rampage to rid the universe of immortal deities.
Well, they’re technically not immortal if they can be killed, but you know what we mean.
In any case, Gorr — who was nearly set up by the Moon Knight TV show — has been described by Love and Thunder director/co-writer Taika Waititi as “one of the best villains that’s Marvel’s had in their films. He’s very layered.” Yeah, layered and deadly. The dude wants to spill as much blood (or, in this case, ichor) from every omnipotent being — from Chris Hemsworth’s Thor to Russell Crowe’s Zeus. The ruler of Olympus shows up in the new footage, and he’s not a big fan of disguises.
Having left Earth with the Guardians of the Galaxy at the end of Avengers: Endgame, Thor decides to shed his love handles and lead a life of quiet pacifism. All of that gets derailed by the arrival of Gorr, forcing Thor to embark on one last cosmic adventure with old allies like King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Waititi), and, most surprising of all, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), the mortal scientist who now wields Mjolnir.
Watch the latest trailer below:
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Chris Pratt (Star-Lord), Dave Bautista (Drax), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Pom Klementieff (Mantis), Bradley Cooper (Rocket Raccoon), and Sean Gunn (Kraglin) reprise their Guardians of the Galaxy characters. It’s unclear how much screen time they’ll actually get in the film. Matt Damon, who previously appeared in Thor: Ragnarok as an Asgardian thespian portraying the Dark World tragedy of Loki, will appear in a mystery role.
“Ragnarok felt a bit like a party,” Waititi said during an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “It was quite festive. This one is still fun, and it’s got moments of being over the top, but thematically, it’s about something a bit deeper than the last film. It’s not a serious film, and it’s not a drama, but we do deal with ideas that I think a lot of humans deal with — universal themes about love and loss and our place in the world. Everyone sort of asks this question in the film: What is your purpose? What is the reason that you’re a hero, and what do you do when you have these powers?”
Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brian Chapek, and Todd Hallowell serve as executive producers on Love and Thunder. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige (he’s also Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Entertainment) is a producer alongside What If…? alum, Brad Winderbaum. Waititi wrote the screenplay with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson.
Thor: Love and Thunder hits the big screen Friday, July 8.
If you’re in the mood for more rollicking sci-fi action in the meantime, head over to Peacock to check out the science fiction film line-up, including Firestarter, Independence Day, Armageddon, Gamer, Resident Evil and more.
Credit: Marvel Studios/Disney
