The newest trailer for the next MCU movie, Thor: Love and Thunder, gives fans their first proper look at Christian Bale’s foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Gorr the God Butcher. While the comic-accurate look has Marvel Comics readers excited, there are a lot of things that movie fans won’t yet be aware of when it comes to this intriguing new villainous mastermind.
Whether Gorr will be limited to a one-off appearance or present a terrifying new foe going forwards, his recent comic book history provides a lot of information on where his character arc could be heading from this initial introduction. These are some of the most interesting facts about Gorr the God Butcher and his backstory.
7 He’s A Recent Creation
Gorr may seem like an eternal being who has been around for thousands of years, and indeed, that is his backstory. However, the character was actually created fairly recently, introduced in The Mighty Thor #1 in January 2013. Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic created the character and later introduced Jane Foster’s Mighty Thor character, who will also be making her MCU debut in Thor: Love and Thunder.
While Gorr doesn’t have a long history in Marvel Comics, it is easy to catch up on everything he’s ever done if movie viewers are interested in the character. Gorr has only actually appeared in fifteen different comics over the last decade, so there is plenty left to be written about the character through Bale's MCU version.
6 His Tragic (& Religious) Backstory
Gorr once lived on a nameless planet where many of the people were starving and felt forsaken by the Gods they worshipped. When Gorr’s entire family died due to natural disasters, he proclaimed in anger that there were no gods and was exiled by his tribe.
While wandering in the wilderness, Gorr saw two battling Gods fall from the sky and land on his planet. Enraged at the fact that they did exist and had ignored him, he took up the weapon of the dark God and was taken by the symbiotic force of the weapon, endowing him with the strength needed to murder the other God. After this first kill, Gorr wondered if there were more out there and began a crusade lasting thousands of years, tracking down and murdering every God he could find. With this in mind, it's no wonder that a veteran actor like Bale was excited to take on this incredible role.
5 His Power Comes From The Same Source As Venom
The dark God Knull that fell to the Earth, whose sword Gorr was taken by, is the creator of the symbiotic race of aliens that Venom is a member of. The sword, known as All-Black, the Necrosword, had the power to kill any of the Gods that Gorr came up against. Knull created the Necrosword as the first Symbiote and used it to chop the head off of a Celestial, before creating the symbiote dragon race that would eventually become other well-known Marvel characters including fan-favorites Venom and Carnage.
Gorr’s backstory and that of the sword may be changed in the MCU, since Sony still owns characters such as Venom, but the power of his sword will likely remain at a similarly terrifying level. With recent developments from Sony in bringing their universe closer to the MCU, fans are hoping to see characters like Knull in the MCU to continue this much tighter bond between the companies recently.
4 He Time Traveled To Enslave Hundreds Of Gods
Gorr went so far in his crusade of deicide that, at one point in the comics, he actually attacked Chronux, known as the place of infinity where time Gods reside. He was able to gain access to the pool of forevers and use the blood of the time Gods to travel to the beginning of the universe and kill one of the first Elder Gods.
Gorr then went deep into the future and took hundreds of Gods as prisoners to his base on a deserted planet. It was there that he started them working on collecting the hearts of broken stars and materials from destroyed planets, looking towards a dangerous, and strangely named, final destination.
3 He Actually Created A Godbomb
Yes, he really called it that, and yes, if successful, it could have potentially wiped out every God from across all time and space. This was the use of the materials he had countless enslaved Gods mining for over nine hundred years. The idea for the Godbomb actually came from Shadrak, the God of bombs. Yes, again, this really happened within the pages of Marvel Comics.
While Thor managed to stop the Godbomb from enacting Gorr’s master plan, the idea of such a thing could possibly be used by a filmmaker such as Taika Waititi in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder. Despite Thor now being the eldest of the MCU Statesmen left, he is still a fun character and one who Waititi isn't afraid to play with.
2 He Went Mad With Grief Like Wanda Maximoff
Another notable fact about Gorr is something that is unlikely to show up in Love and Thunder. Not because it’s too ridiculous for the MCU, but because viewers just saw a similar story played out in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness.
While creating the Godbomb, Gorr also used his Necrosword to make apparitions of his dead wife and son. In the end, it was the apparition of his dead child that brought Gorr down, just as Wanda was eventually taken down by seeing her own children scared of her in Multiverse Of Madness. That movie changed a lot about the MCU, even if it didn't make most top MCU movie lists, but it is unlikely such recently trodden ground will be retrodden in Love & Thunder.
1 He Made Thor Unworthy To Lift Mjolnir
Even though Thor defeated him and Gorr was finally struck down by those he loved the most, the ideology Gorr brought with him through his crusade carried on. It affected Thor deeply and caused him to feel unworthy of carrying his hammer.
How this will play across into Thor: Love and Thunder is currently unclear. After all, Thor has only just worked through feelings of unworthiness in his last MCU appearance, and it will be the Mighty Thor, AKA Jane Foster, who is wielding Mjolnir with a fun new persona in this movie if the most recent trailer is anything to go by.
Thor: Love and Thunder will arrive in theatres on July 8, 2022.