We’ve heard a lot about how Gorr the God Butcher is apparently a villain like no other and how the prospect of living it up as the antagonist role appealed to Christian Bale more than playing the hero. But the real reason(s) for joining “Thor: Love and Thunder” proved to be a combination of several factors — though perhaps none more important than the input from his family.

In an interview with Screen Rant, Bale commented on the various reasons that appealed to him about his role in the “Thor” sequel. As you’d imagine for an actor who has worked with so many acclaimed filmmakers over the years, Taika Waititi’s talent was simply too much to ignore.

“For me, it was Taika. I loved ‘Thor: Ragnarok,’ as did my family. We also all loved ‘Jojo Rabbit,’ and then I had worked with Natalie [Portman, on Terrence Malick’s ‘Knight of Cups’] and wanted to work with Tessa [Thompson] and with Chris [Hemsworth]. It comes down to that, really. I just went, ‘Great!’ Loved the script, loved Taika’s description of the villain. ‘Let’s go do this.'”

But even with so many compelling reasons to come aboard, the dreaded specter of scheduling conflicts almost prevented this collaboration from ever happening. The difference-maker at this critical juncture, as it turns out, happened to be some well-timed input from Bale’s children.

“There were some potential scheduling conflicts. I said to my family, ‘I don’t think it’s going to work out,’ and they went, ‘No, you make it work out. You’re doing this, Dad.’ They gave me my marching orders, and I dutifully obeyed.”

We have Waititi, a particularly well-written villain, and Bale’s family to thank for seeing the actor dressed up like a goth on a subpar makeup day.