Yes, Christian Bale is playing the villain in Thor: Love and Thunder

A while back, it was rumored that Marvel was courting Christian Bale to play a villain in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder, written and directed by Taika Waititi. It seemed like a good fit, both because Bale is a fine actor and it’d be interesting to see a guy so closely associated with DC — Bale, of course, played Batman in Christopher’s Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy — play for the other side.

Now, we know that the rumor was true. It was helpfully confirmed by star Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie) while she was speaking to ET Online. “Taika’s writing directing, some familiar faces, some new people into the mix, Christian Bale’s gonna play our villain, which is gonna be fantastic,” she said. “Yeah, it’s gonna be good.”

And who will Bale play? I don’t know, why are you looking at me. There aren’t a lot of hugely iconic Thor villains, but fans have suggested folks like Dario Agger, the CEO of Roxxon who is also the Minotaur…

…and Cul Borson, also known as Serpent:

That said, other reports have the villain of Love and Thunder being  an “otherworldly” alien, none of which quite describes those characters, so anything is still possible.

Love and Thunder will differ from past Thor films in that the Thor we know — the one played by Chris Hemsworth — won’t, well…be Thor. Instead, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) is stepping into the role, as she does in the comics, which Valkyrie takes over as King of (what’s left of) Asgard.

And she is the king of Asgard, as Thompson confirmed to ET Online. “If she can’t find her queen, she’ll just be king and queen at the same time.” Love and Thunder doesn’t film until later this year, but it already sounds tremendous.

If you’re looking to see Thompson in something a little earlier, can I recommend watching her in the third season of Westworld, out next weekend? She’s playing the corporate executive Charlotte Hale…or rather a lifelike robot designed to look like Charlotte Hale who’s actually working with Dolores Abernathy (Evan Rachel Wood) to tear down everything the real Hale built. The show is kind of confusing.

Or at least it was confusing, until now. Thompson promised that season 3 would go a little easier on viewers’ brains:

"It’s certainly more linear, so maybe that will be easier for people to understand. I think this show always wants to ask really complicated questions. This experience this season I think is very visceral, and once you’re inside the engine, you’re going…There’s no choice but to follow."

And what kind of big questions are those? “I think it’s about destiny. I think it’s about whether we control our own.”

Westworld season 3 premieres on Sunday, March 15, on HBO.

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