Marvel fans are divided over Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder
Gorr the God Butcher has everyone talking
Warning: Major spoilers ahead for Thor: Love and Thunder! Turn back now if you haven't seen the new Marvel movie!
Christian Bale's Gorr the God Butcher wreaks havoc on the MCU's deities in Thor: Love and Thunder, wielding his sinister Necrosword to take revenge against all gods after the death of his daughter. Director Taika Waititi hyped the bad guy up before the film arrived, teasing he tested the best of any Marvel villain in test screenings – and with the movie finally here, fans finally get to see the god-slayer in action.
"Thor: Love and Thunder was fun and I enjoyed it overall," says one person. "The biggest highlight for me was Christian Bale's Gorr the God Butcher. He was mesmerizing. He's got some really kickass and creepy scenes. I thoroughly enjoyed every second he was on screen."
Another person thinks Gorr is a highlight: "Thor Love and Thunder was really good, a lot more emotional than I was expecting and Gorr is a really good villain, stole every scene he was in. Not as good as Ragnarok, but pretty close there."
"Just when I thought I couldn't be more amazed with how incredible Christian Bale is, he absolutely nails it as Gorr The God Butcher in Thor: Love & Thunder. He's the GOAT, people," says another fan.
One person is lukewarm on the movie, but has high praise for Gorr. "Thor: Love and Thunder was not bad. Typical marvel movie, fun but nothing groundbreaking. Marvel is falling off pretty hard with the new phase but Gorr was amazing! He was creepy and well written and portrayed. Best MCU villain since Thanos"
Another fan liked the villain, but wished he had more screen time: "I had a lot fun watching this, the comedy and emotion are well-balanced. I love the chemistry between the characters, especially Thor and Jane. Gorr is terrifying and menacing, but I wish we could have seen him more throughout the movie."
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One person on Reddit feels similarly: "Christian Bale was great but feels so underutilized. For a God butcher, there wasn’t much butchering."
"Christian Bale deserved way better screen time. He was absolutely brilliant as Gorr but his character was wasted in Love And Thunder man wtf," thinks another person.
"Gorr was the only thing I really liked about Thor Love and Thunder... he needed WAYYY more screen time!" agrees one Twitter user.
There's no word yet on if the God of Thunder will be returning for a potential Thor 5, but considering Love and Thunder's post-credits scenes, we can safely assume there's more story to tell. The MCU currently continues on Disney Plus with Ms. Marvel, while the next Marvel movie to hit the big screen is Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which lands this November 11. In the meantime, for much more on Love and Thunder, check out our explainers on:
- When does Thor: Love and Thunder take place on the Marvel timeline?
- All the Thor: Love and Thunder cameos you might have missed
- Every Thor: Love and Thunder Easter egg you might have missed
- Every cut Thor: Love and Thunder cameo, listed
- Who dies in Thor: Love and Thunder?
- Does Thor have a daughter in the comics?
- Is Loki in Thor: Love and Thunder?
- How to watch the Marvel movies in order
- The full Marvel timeline, explained
- Everything coming in Marvel Phase 4
I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.