The Gorr Dilemma: Critiquing Adaptation

Full spoiler warning for Thor: Love and Thunder!

The latest instalment in the MCU has provoked an uncharacteristic amount of disagreement, critique and debate - even extending to Christian Bale's new villain, Gorr the God Butcher. Many believe this villain is a high-water mark for the franchise, but just as many think MCU Gorr dropped the ball, and wasted the immense potential latent in the source material - Jason Aaron's run writing the Thor comics. Who's right? Both? Neither? That's the million ducat question. Join me in a Gorr-gantuan deep dive into both versions of Gorr the God Butcher, and the complex issues of adaption and adaptation at play - and hopefully we'll emerge together into a landscape of better, more nuanced, discourse.

P.S. A lot of the stuff I talk about in this video springs from my personal reading of Aaron's Thor: God of Thunder #1-11 - when I'm talking about motivations, it's possible other people have interpreted these pages in a different way. So please, don't take my comments on comic Gorr as wholly-authoritative or objective - because they're not!

Check out my Patreon!   / pillarofgarbage  
Join the Pillar of Garbage Discord server!   / discord  
Follow me on Twitter!   / pillargarbage  
TikTok:   / pillar_of_garbage  

Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
3:11 Gorr in Jason Aaron's Thor
5:48 Comparing Motivations
9:31 Perspectives and Hypocrisy
17:53 How Film Gorr Works (and How He Doesn't)
22:24 The Gorr Dilemma
28:10 Nuance and the Discourse
30:59 Conclusion

#thor #loveandthunder #marvel

Thor: Love and Thunder is a 2022 American superhero comedy film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character Thor, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and the 29th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is directed by Taika Waititi, who co-wrote the script with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, and stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor alongside Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Jaimie Alexander, Waititi, Russell Crowe, and Natalie Portman. In the film, Thor attempts to find inner peace, but must return to action and recruit Valkyrie (Thompson), Korg (Waititi), and Jane Foster (Portman)—who is now the Mighty Thor—to stop Gorr the God Butcher (Bale) from eliminating all gods. Thor embarks on a journey unlike anything he's ever faced -- a quest for inner peace. However, his retirement gets interrupted by Gorr the God Butcher, a galactic killer who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie, Korg and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster, who -- to his surprise -- inexplicably wields his magical hammer. Together, they set out on a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher's vengeance.