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Gorr Weirdly Accomplished What Doctor Strange 2 Was Supposed To
In Thor: Love and Thunder, Gorr the God Butcher surprisingly accomplished what Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness was supposed to. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, directed by the famed Sam Raimi, was released on May 6th of this year, while Thor: Love and Thunder, directed by the outstanding Taika Waititi, is still currently in theaters. Unexpectedly, Thor 4 is doing a better job in some ways at being what Doctor Strange 2 was supposed to be.
Doctor Strange 2 follows Stephen Strange and America Chavez as they traverse the multiverse trying to stop the Scarlet Witch from stealing America's powers to access a universe where her children still lived. Thor 4, on the other hand, follows Thor and his allies on an adventure to stop Gorr the God Butcher from doing exactly what his name implies. While the Scarlet Witch made for a formidable foe, Christian Bale's performance as Gorr in Thor: Love and Thunder may have stolen her thunder, pun intended.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was billed as the MCU's first horror film and while there were certainly some scary moments from the Scarlet Witch, Gorr was a much scarier villain overall. Thus, Thor: Love and Thunder did a better job at being a horror film than Doctor Strange 2. Gorr is genuinely the creepiest villain the MCU has ever put on the big screen. Wanda's Scarlet Witch may be a close runner-up, but Gorr is terrifying in ways she isn't.
Why Thor 4 Is Scarier Than Doctor Strange 2
Christian Bale put on an excellent performance as Gorr the God Butcher. His portrayal of the character is one of the best performances in all of the MCU. After losing his daughter, the god to which he prayed laughs in his face. Gorr, with the help of the Necrosword in Thor: Love and Thunder, becomes the God Butcher. In the scenes that follow, Gorr is truly reminiscent of a horror film villain. Gorr finds pleasure in murdering the gods of the universe and torments the children of New Asgard to entice Thor to come to the Shadow Realm. In many of these scenes, Gorr seems to be enjoying tormenting others. The Scarlet Witch has some very freaky scenes herself in Doctor Strange 2, including completely dismantling and dismembering the Illuminati, but Wanda is a much-beloved hero and occasionally seems to be at odds internally with what she is doing. Gorr, however, seems to take genuine pleasure in his murder, which makes him extremely scary.
Along with the characters, Thor: Love and Thunder also does a better job aesthetically in making the film scarier than Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Gorr's corpse-like color, with the pale white skin and black around his eyes and mouth, make him truly terrifying. Gorr is also shown appearing out of the shadows to scare the Asgardian children and the film is almost completely black and white during the scenes in the Shadow Realm. The combination of the two makes for a terrifying sequence unmatched by any other MCU film. It's hard to see Wanda Maximoff in the same light, as she is so often seen as a sympathetic hero. Although she does have some genuinely disturbing scenes, such as emerging from the gong at Kamar-Taj, they just don't come off as creepy as the scenes with Gorr.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness may have been the first attempt at a horror film for the MCU, but Thor: Love and Thunder actually did a better job at being scary. Gorr the God Butcher is the scariest and creepiest villain of the MCU, reminiscent of a monster from an actual horror film. While the Scarlet Witch is monstrously powerful at times in Doctor Strange 2, her years of being seen as a hero arguably colored audience perception and hinted that she'd be redeemed in the end.
