With the latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ‘Thor: Love & Thunder,’ set to release on July 8, a lot of praise has been heaped onto actor Christian Bale’s portrayal of villain Gorr the God Butcher.
In the comics, Gorr seeks to kill all the gods, including Thor and the Asgardians, for failing to answer his prayers to save his pregnant wife and child. Now, he makes his debut in the MCU.
However, comic fans have noticed a small change to Gorr’s appearance from the comics. Luckily, this was an intentional choice, to distinguish Gorr from another iconic villain.
Why Gorr was redesigned
In an interview with IGN, ‘Thor: Love & Thunder’ director Taika Waititi addressed why Gorr looks so different compared to the comics.
The reason, according to Waititi, was that he feared the sinister God Butcher’s face looked too much like the Harry Potter villain, Voldemort.
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“His face in the comics you know, unfortunately does kind of resemble Voldemort. You know, so I was like…people are just automatically gonna…make that connection. So we decided to depart from that design…and like sorta keep elements.”
Taika Waititi wanted to avoid people comparing #Gorr to Voldemort, so they decided to change Gorr's design in the movie. #ThorLoveAndThunder pic.twitter.com/sepAnGyiww
— IGN (@IGN) June 29, 2022
But for those comic fans who are worried that Gorr will be less menacing that he was in the comics, never fear. Waititi assures fans that Gorr will maintain the same terrifying aura he had in the comics, and will be retaining his sword. It’s unknown whether this sword will be manifested by Gorr’s use of the All-Black symbiote.
Regardless of whether Gorr measures up to his menacing comic portrayal, it’s good to see that Waititi and Marvel are taking care to make sure that Gorr is distinct from other major villains, even if they are in completely different fictional universes.
