Christian Bale is stepping into the terrifying shoes of Gorr the God Butcher in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder – but, as it turns out, he had some very strange influences. The actor breaks down his MCU debut in the latest issue of Total Film, which features the Thor movie on the cover.
What exactly inspired Bale's take on the character beyond the comics, then? "Mostly hearing Taika's [Waititi, director] thoughts on it," he says. "There's obviously sort of a Nosferatu slight attitude. 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 realised he was never going to be allowed to put that in the final film. I would say that the most common thing I was staring at was the Aphex Twin video of 'Come To Daddy'. But I don't even know if that will be in the final film."
Luckily, the character ended up being different to Bale's initial thoughts, too. "You sort of go, 'I know what he does.' It's right there in the name, isn't it? 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," Bale explains. "And I thought, 'They don't have the right man for that!' And then Taika quickly dispelled any notions of running around in that. But I always did think what he could do with this in front of a bluescreen – he could chuck on whatever he wants later on."
As for whether the actor had any qualms taking on another comic-book movie role after Batman, Bale is quick to dismiss the notion. "Absolutely not, no. That didn't even enter into my head at all," he says. "I'd read that, and people would go, 'Oh, look at this! He's entered the MCU!' And I'd go, 'I've done what? I haven't entered shit, thank you very much.' I'm like, 'The MCU?' I had to ask what that was."
Thor: Love and Thunder opens in UK cinemas on July 7, before opening in the US on July 8. For much more from Bale, Waititi, Kevin Feige, Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Tessa Thompson, check out the new issue of Total Film when it hits shelves (and digital newsstands) this Thursday, June 23.
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