Christian Bale Recalls Having No Clue What the Marvel Cinematic Universe Was Upon Joining ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’

Christian Bale knew what he was getting into when he agreed to play Gorr the God Butcher in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder, but he admittedly had no clue about the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  

In an interview with Total Film magazine, Bale was asked if he had any apprehension about joining another superhero franchise after a near decade-long stint as Batman in the Christopher Nolan-directed Dark Knight trilogy. “Absolutely not, no,” the 48-year-old responded. “That didn’t even enter into my head at all.”

Bale confessed he was aware of the discourse regarding his jump from DC’s Batman to Marvel’s Gorr the God Butcher, and that chatter belatedly introduced him to this unknown entity/organization/cult known as the MCU.

“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,’” Bale recalled. “I’m like, ‘The MCU?’ I had to ask what that was.” 

Bale revealed he and Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi spoke about an approach to the character, which he described as containing “obviously sort of a Nosferatu slight attitude.” He claimed the two envisioned a “whole dance” with “all this sort of Kate Bush stuff that we worked at,” but Bale said Waititi realized he was “never going to be allowed to put that in the final film.” (And speaking of Bush, her 1985 song “Running Up That Hill” is currently in the midst of quite a resurgence in the wake of Season 4 of Stranger Things. According to Billboard, the track is No. 1 in the U.K. and in the top five of the Billboard Hot 100.)

While many would adopt the philosophy that Google can be a curious mind’s best friend, Bale learned one of the downsides of turning to the search engine when he tried to learn more about Gorr the God Butcher. “You sort of go, ‘I know what he does.’ It’s right there in the name, isn’t it?” he said. “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. And I thought, ‘They don’t have the right man for that!’”

Watiti eventually eased his concerns by ditching the G-string, in favor of a Gorr with more clothing. 

Thor: Love and Thunder hits theaters on July 8.