Christian Bale didn’t know what the MCU was before Thor: Love and Thunder

Christian Bale stars as Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder, set to be one of the most formidable foes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you asked him a few years ago, the actor wouldn’t have a clue what you were talking about. 

The MCU’s stature has grown to a point where it feels like it’ll never be toppled. Avengers: Endgame certified the franchise as a pop culture behemoth, proven further by its expanded Phase Four with a mixture of big-screen releases and TV shows on Disney+. A little bit of Marvel, all of the time.

Bale isn’t exactly a stranger to the comic book movie craze; after all, he brought the caped crusader to life in three of the best superhero adaptations of all time. For generations who grew up with The Dark Knight trilogy, he didn’t just play Batman – he is Batman.

Soon, he’ll make his MCU debut in Thor: Love and Thunder, playing a villain “who seeks the extinction of the gods.” You can’t expect everyone to be clued up on the ins and outs of the Infinity Saga and the multiversal madness of late, but Bale didn’t even know what he’d joined.

Christian Bale didn’t know what the MCU was before Thor 4

In a new interview with Total Film ahead of the film’s release, Bale confessed to not being all that familiar with the MCU prior to being cast.

When asked if he was hesitant to do another major comic book movie after playing Batman, the star said: “Absolutely not, no. That didn’t even enter into my head at all.

“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 s**t, thank you very much.’ I’m like: ‘The MCU?’ I had to ask what that was.”

Christian Bale’s inspirations for Gorr in Thor: Love and Thunder

Bale also spoke about his strange inspirations for Gorr, between listening to director Taika Waititi, a “sort of Nosferatu slight attitude” and Kate Bush, although the latter didn’t make the cut.

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“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,” he said.

“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.”

Thor: Love and Thunder hits cinemas on July 7.