By This Point, A Horse-Faced Hero Is The Least Weird Thing In The MCU
Christian Bale is in talks with Marvel to join the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder, the sequel to 2017’s Ragnarok. Although it’s unknown which character Bale will potentially portray, fans have been sharing their top pick — Beta Ray Bill.
Who Is Beta Ray Bill?
Beta Ray Bill isn’t exactly a deep-cut into the Marvel Universe, but he wouldn’t be on the top of anyone’s list either. You may recognize this horse-faced hero from Marvel cartoons such as Planet Hulk or Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, but may not have known him by name. So, who is he and what can he do?
Beta Ray Bill comes from an alien-race known as the Korbinites. Since the destruction of their home planet, these orange-skinned beings float around the universe on a spaceship until they find a new home. Bill doesn’t look like the rest of his people, as he was genetically altered to have beast-like traits. You know … hence the horse-face.
Amongst being a fierce warrior who can go toe-to-toe with the God of Thunder himself, Beta Ray has been known to be worthy enough to wield Mjolnir. In fact, Stormbreaker, the weapon Thor used to almost kill Thanos in Infinity War, is traditionally meant to be BRB’s weapon, bestowed upon him by Odin.
The Connection to Ragnarok
Vigilant fans were able to spot a quick glimpse of Beta Ray during Thor: Ragnarok. A giant statue of his face is seen on the outside of the Grandmaster’s Tower of Champions. He was meant to show up in Ragnarok, according to Marvel honcho Kevin Fiege, but he felt a simple cameo wouldn’t do him justice. Instead, he opted to save him for a larger role in the future … Love And Thunder, perhaps?
Lastly, it would technically make more sense to have him appear in L&T rather than Ragnarok. Remember when I mentioned Beta Ray Bill’s home planet was destroyed? Well, that destruction came at the hands of Surtur … the very same giant demon that brought Asgard (and Hela) to an end in Ragnarok. So … our heroes just may potentially have an enemy in common!
Thor: Love And Thunder, also directed by Taika Waititi, will see Chris Hemsworth’s return and even bring back Natalie Portman as Jane Foster. The film is set to release in 2021.
What are your thoughts on who Christian Bale could be playing?
