Marvel

Will ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ Introduce Knull?

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Is Knull in Thor: Love and Thunder?

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

Nearly three months away from the official release and we’ve just now received the teaser for Marvel Studios Thor: Love and Thunder. In this new adventure, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced – a quest for inner peace. But a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who seeks the extinction of the gods, interrupts his retirement.

To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi), and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who – to Thor’s surprise – inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor. Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.

A majority of us here at PHASR HQ love the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) and all the speculation between fans as we prepare for the next film. So today we wanted to bring some fun speculation into the mix as we prep for Thor: Love and Thunder. The big bad for this entry is Gorr the God Butcher, not the most welcoming of titles. With our understanding of the comics, recent leaks of Gorr action figures, and promotional art of the film, we wanted to explore the possibility of Gorr somehow introducing Knull, King of the Symbiotes into the MCU.

Who is Gorr The God Butcher?

Making his first appearance in the pages of Marvel’s Thor: God of Thunder #1, Gorr the God Butcher was born on a very religious planet. Though he suffered from hunger, he was still raised to trust in the gods. Gorr’s mother and father died when he was incredibly young, and they left him to fend for himself. Gorr later in life married and had children, most of which died. His wife also passed away because of a severe earthquake. No matter how much Gorr prayed to the gods, death followed him wherever he went.

Eventually, Gorr was left with a single child named Agar, who was brought to the brink of starvation. Gorr brought his only son on an expedition to seek a forest with plenty of fruit. If he reached the bountiful forest, they’d never go hungry again. Unfortunately, Gorr’s remaining son passed away.

It enraged Gorr with grief. He also gave up any semblance of hope, along with any faith that remained. With so much suffering brought into his life, Gorr determined that there could be no gods in the universe. While traveling one day though Gorr’s life changed yet again. As he crossed a desert, praying for his life to end, he came upon two gods dueling. One was an elder god named Knull and the other a gold-armored, purple-skinned god.

The gold-armored god begged for Gorr’s help; stricken with rage by his request, the elder god’s sword transformed and somehow bonded to Gorr. With his new weapon, All-Black the Necrosword, Gorr would kill the gold-armored god; then vowed to seek revenge against all the gods that never answered his prayers. Gorr would then become Gorr the God Butcher.

Who is Knull?

Knull is an elder god of darkness and the creator of the symbiote that made a brief first appearance in Thor: God of Thunder #6 and a full appearance in Venom (Vol. 4) #3. As he lay within his void, the cosmic gods known as the Celestials invaded his realm. To battle the cosmic entities, Knull created the first symbiote as a sword and decapitated one of the gods. He would then use the Celestial’s head to refine his blade, creating a connection between the symbiote and the fallen cosmic god. The head would be the source of most of Knull’s immense power by literally becoming a forge for the eldritch god.

Deciding to wage war against the Light, Knull became a horrific figure of legend. He eventually found himself stranded on a nameless planet after an inhabitant stole his blade and unwittingly followed in his footsteps. Experimenting with his powers, Knull discovered he could create amorphous parasites from the darkness he controls and merge them with “lesser creatures”, so he used this to corrupt the Light.

Now with an army of “symbiotes”, Knull would infect planets and corrupt the inhabitants into his image as well as absorb all knowledge and power via the symbiotes’ “genetic codex”. But it was a battle with Thor in Earth’s past that would lead to Knull’s downfall. Using his Asgardian lightning, Thor would sever Knull’s link with the symbiotes and soon his creations rebelled against their creator. The symbiotes end up trapping Knull with their mass, taking the form of a planet. The symbiotes would adopt the name “Klyntar” which translates to “cage” in their native language.

Does Gorr Wield Knull’s Sword?

As exemplified previously, there’s an obvious and direct connection between Gorr and Knull. So the question is – in Thor: Love and Thunder, does Gorr the God Butcher wield Knull’s sword? In the upcoming blockbuster, Gorr is being played by Christian Bale, and in some photos of the character’s action figure, we see something very interesting. Above we can see Bale’s Gorr with blackened fingertips, most likely in reference to him wielding All-Black the Necrosword.

That seems obvious, but of course, it could just be a simple reference and not any type of direct implication for introducing Knull in the MCU. The other toy image that makes a compelling argument for Knull is the official Funko POP for Gorr. As you can see below, it’s Gorr posed surrounded by symbiotic black goo. This feels like a very loud call to action by Marvel Studios for them to introduce symbiotes within the MCU.

As we know now, a piece of Venom has been left behind in the MCU with the revelation occurring in the mid-credit scene of Spider-Man: No Way Home. With introducing Gorr in the cosmic realm of the MCU, could this be Marvel’s next step into making Knull the next big bad? To go further down the MCU rabbit hole, we have some pre-existing knowledge that could also show Marvel Studios moving toward Knull as its next central villain.

First, we already have seen the severed head of a Celestial in Guardians of the Galaxy, a.k.a. Knowhere. Could this be the severed head of the Celestial killed by Knull himself? Second, some of the major players to battle Knull include the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Moon Knight, Blade, Dr. Stange, Wiccan, and Venom. All of which either exist currently or have been confirmed to join the MCU in the coming years. Third, we get the introduction of the Ebony Blade in Eternals which is in part devised from the All-Black. Fourth, as mentioned previously, Gorr wielding what we believe to be the All-Black.

Whether it be in Tom Holland’s ‘Spider-Man 4’ or some type of large multi-film event like the Infinity Saga, it seems we’ll have to wait and see for the post-credit scene of Thor: Love and Thunder.

Do You Think Knull Is The MCU’s Next Major Villain?

Do you think Knull is the MCU’s next major villain, someone that could even rival the mighty power of Thanos himself? Let us know your fan theories on social media today!