Thor: The Dark World

***Thor: The Dark World*** is a 2013 American superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Thor, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to 2011's *Thor* and the eighth installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film was directed by Alan Taylor, with a screenplay by Christopher Yost and Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely.[3] It stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston,Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Christopher Eccleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano, Jaimie Alexander, and Rene Russo. In *Thor: The Dark World*, Thor teams up with Loki to save the Nine Realms from the Dark Elves led by the vengefulMalekith, who intends to plunge the universe into darkness.

Development of *Thor: The Dark World* began in April 2011, when producer Kevin Feige announced plans for a sequel to follow the crossover film *The Avengers*. In July 2011, Kenneth Branagh, the director of *Thor*, withdrew from the project. Brian Kirk and Patty Jenkins were considered to direct the film before Taylor was hired in January 2012. The supporting cast filled out in August 2012, with the hiring of Eccleston, Dennings, and Akinnuoye-Agbaje. Principal photography began in September 2012 in Surrey, England with filming continuing in Iceland and London, before wrapping up in December 2012. *Thor: The Dark World* was converted to 3D in post-production.

*Thor: The Dark World* premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on October 22, 2013. It was released internationally on October 30, 2013, and on November 8, 2013, in the United States. The film received mixed reviews,[4][5] but was a commercial success, grossing over $644 million worldwide. A third film,*Thor: Ragnarok*, is set for release on November 3, 2017.

## Plot

Eons ago, Bor, father of Odin, clashes with the Dark Elf Malekith, who seeks to destroy the universe using a weapon known as the Aether. After conquering Malekith's forces, including enhanced warriors called the Kursed, on their home world of Svartalfheim, Bor safeguards the Aether within a stone column. Unbeknownst to Bor, Malekith, his lieutenant Algrim, and a handful of Dark Elves escape into suspended animation.

In present-day Asgard, Loki stands imprisoned for his war crimes on Earth. Meanwhile, Thor, alongside warriors Fandral, Volstagg, and Sif, repel marauders on Vanaheim, home of their comrade Hogun; it is the final battle in a war to pacify the Nine Realms following the reconstruction of the Bifröst, the "Rainbow Bridge" between realms, which had been destroyed two years earlier. The Asgardians soon learn that the Convergence, a rare alignment of the Nine Realms, is imminent; as the event approaches, portals linking the worlds appear at random.

In London, astrophysicist Dr. Jane Foster and her intern Darcy Lewis travel to an abandoned factory where such portals have appeared, disrupting the laws of physics around them. Separating from the group, Jane is teleported to another world, where she is infected by the Aether. Heimdall alerts Thor that Jane has moved beyond his near omniscient sight, leading Thor to Earth. When Thor finds Jane, she inadvertently releases an unearthly force, and Thor returns with her to Asgard. Odin, recognizing the Aether, warns that the Aether will not only kill Jane, but that its return heralds a catastrophic prophecy.

Malekith, awakened by the Aether's release, turns Algrim into a Kursed and attacks Asgard. During the battle, Malekith and Algrim search for Jane, sensing that she contains the Aether. Thor's mother Frigga is killed protecting Jane, and Malekith and Algrim are forced to flee without Jane. Despite Odin's orders not to leave Asgard, Thor reluctantly enlists the help of Loki, who knows of a secret portal to Svartalfheim, where they will use Jane to lure and confront Malekith, away from Asgard. In return, Thor promises Loki vengeance on Malekith for killing their mother. With Volstagg and Sif stalling Asgardian soldiers and Fandral assisting their escape, Thor, Loki, and Jane head to Svartalfheim.

There, Loki tricks Malekith into drawing the Aether out of Jane, but Thor's attempt to destroy the exposed substance fails. Malekith merges with the Aether and leaves in his ship as Loki is fatally wounded while killing Algrim. Thor, cradling Loki in his arms, promises to tell their father of his sacrifice. Afterwards, Thor and Jane discover another portal in a nearby cave and reunite in London with Darcy and Jane's mentor Dr. Erik Selvig — who was briefly institutionalized due to the mental trauma he suffered during Loki's attack on Earth. They learn that Malekith plans to destroy the universe and restore the Dark Elves to dominance by unleashing the Aether at the center of the Convergence in Greenwich. Thor battles Malekith through various portals and across multiple worlds until one portal separates them, leaving Malekith unopposed on Earth. Thor returns in time to help his mortal comrades use their scientific equipment to transport Malekith to Svartalfheim, where he is crushed by his own damaged ship.

Thor returns to Asgard, where he declines Odin's offer to take the throne and tells Odin of Loki's sacrifice. As he leaves, Odin's form transforms into Loki, who is alive and impersonating Odin.

In a mid-credits scene, Volstagg and Sif visit the Collector and entrust the Aether to his care, commenting that, with the Tesseract already in Asgard, having two Infinity Stones so close together would be dangerous. As they leave, the Collector remarks, "One down, five to go." In a post-credits scene, Jane and Thor reunite on Earth while somewhere in London a frost monster from Jotunheim, accidentally transported to Earth during the final battle, continues to run amok.

## Cast

* Chris Hemsworth as Thor:

The crown prince of Asgard, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name.[6] Hemsworth stated that the film addresses unresolved issues regarding Thor's relationships from previous films, "For Thor and Jane, there are some unanswered questions now, since obviously he didn't stop in and catch up with her in *The Avengers*. Thor might have some explaining to do in this one. And with Loki, we get down to the major bones of our conflict with everything that's come from *Thor* to*Avengers* to now."[7] Hemsworth added, "Thor's journey I think picks more so up from where we left the first one—About to take on the throne... and now coming to the realization of what responsibility comes with that. Also, Alan [Taylor] keeps talking about the dark side of that responsibility, and the secrets of being king or becoming sort of very political about what people need to know and what they want to know."[8] Hemsworth especially enjoyed the role of Thor in this film as he was able to, "... break him down and find his human qualities and his vulnerable side."[9]
* Natalie Portman as Jane Foster:

An astrophysicist and Thor's love interest,[10] who is brought from Earth to Asgard by Thor after she is infected with a mysterious energy.[11] Producer Kevin Feige said, "[W]hile Thor was a fish out of water on Earth in the first two films (*Thor* and *The Avengers*), this time Jane is very much a fish out of water in Asgard."[12] Portman added, "It was a whole different adventure this time. Because Jane is the fish out of water. I didn't want to make it like *Bill & Ted*, or like a valley girl dumped into Shakespeareland."[13] Portman also said the film finds Jane at a different place in her life, "Jane has moved, so she's now in London, not in Santa Fe anymore. Obviously she has gone through missing Thor and also being upset at him because he didn't come knock on her door when he was on her planet. She's definitely been getting over that and trying to move on."[14] Hemsworth's wife Elsa Pataky stood in for Portman during the final kissing scene due to a scheduling conflict.[15]
* Tom Hiddleston as Loki:

Thor's adoptive brother and nemesis, based on the deity of the same name, who forms an uneasy alliance with Thor against the Dark Elves.[16][17][18] On where he wished to take the character in the film, Hiddleston said, "I'd like to take [Loki] to his absolute rock bottom. I'd like to see him yield, essentially, to his darkest instincts. Then, having hit rock bottom, maybe come back up. I think the fascination for me about playing Loki is that, in the history of the mythology and the comic books and the Scandinavian myths, is he's constantly dancing on this fault line of the dark side and redemption."[19] Hiddleston recalled, "When I met Alan [Taylor], he asked me how I thought I could do Loki again without repeating myself and I remembered talking with Kevin Feige when we were on the *Avengers* promotional tour. I said, 'OK, you've seen Thor and Loki be antagonistic for two films now. It would be amazing to see them fight side by side. I've been the bad guy now twice, so I can't be again, or otherwise I shouldn't be in the film. So we have to find a new role for me to play."[20]
* Anthony Hopkins as Odin:

The king of Asgard, father of Thor, and adoptive father of Loki, based on the deity of the same name,[21] who disapproves of Jane Foster being in Asgard.[11][12]Regarding Thor's relationship with his father, Hemsworth said, "[T]he conflict between Thor and Odin was so great in the first one... so, certainly they disagree as I think they always will at times but there's a far greater respect from each other. So it becomes, I guess, a more mature conversation, but there's more at stake this time, too. It's not sort of just their individual egos, the whole universe is at stake."[8] As to his approach Hopkins said, "I just play Odin like a human being, with maybe a little more dimension. I grow a beard, look hopefully impressive and keep it as real as possible."[14]
* Stellan Skarsgård as Erik Selvig:

Foster's mentor and colleague.[22] Skarsgård said, the film finds Selvig in a "disrupted mode" explaining, "Having a god in your head for a while creates some psychological problems", referring to the character's ordeal following *The Avengers*.[23]
* Idris Elba as Heimdall:

The all-seeing, all-hearing Asgardian sentry of the Bifröst Bridge, based on the mythological deity of the same name.[24] Elba said he has a larger role in the sequel, "In the new film we're going to get to know Heimdall the Asgardian a bit better, and we're going to get to know Asgard a bit better. I can't say too much, but the expansion of Thor in his world is going to be huge. My part was very small and functional in the first film".[25]
* Christopher Eccleston as Malekith:

The ruler of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim.[26] About Malekith's motivation, Eccleston said, "There is a kind of tragic quality to his quest. Because he's lost his wife, he's lost his children. He's lost everything. And he returns for revenge. And the agent for his revenge is the Aether. If he gets hold of that, he is omnipotent."[27] Eccleston continued, "What I thought about a great deal was revenge—there's huge amounts of revenge. One quote is: 'When you seek revenge, be sure to dig two graves.' I did a film called *Revengers Tragedy* where I played a guy called Vindici—from the word 'vindictive'—and he is the distillation of revenge. So, in a way, that was what I had to think of: how revenge can make you absolutely monomaniacal—though you're still trying to make it recognizably motive-led. It's just the personification of movie evil."[20] However Taylor stated that a lot of scenes involving Malekith's backstory had to be cut from the film to make it more efficient.[28] Eccleston revealed that he speaks an invented language for the film explaining, "The Elvish language is definitely based on European languages. I think there’s probably some Finnish in there. It does have its logic and its rhythms. It also has many syllables and it's very difficult to do while remaining naturalistic. It's been a particular challenge for us but hopefully it gives the film some complexity and variety."[14] Eccleston also said the role required six hours of make-up and 45 minutes in wardrobe.[27]
* Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Algrim / Kurse:

A Dark Elf, and Malekith's trusted and loyal lieutenant, who is transformed into a monstrous creature in order to destroy Thor.[29][30] Akinnuoye-Agbaje described Kurse as "an amalgamation of a bull and a lava-like creature. He has very animalistic tendencies but with this insatiable and unstoppable power. As an actor, that's one of the hardest things to embody. You have to realize you are probably the most powerful thing you could imagine. And you have to be that. You can't pretend, so that when you face Thor, it's real."[31] Akinnuoye-Agbaje stated the role required three hours of make-up a day and had to put on heavy duty prosthetics explaining, "The outfit weighed about 40 pounds. I'm sure there will be a certain amount of CGI but a good 80% was me in that suit."[31] About the character Akinnuoye-Agbaje said, "I suppose Algrim and Kurse would be the quintessential baddies, but in reality they are what I perceive as the scorn and the victims of the story. They are the elves who have basically lost their planet and their race to another race, the Asgardians. Here is a man/alien who places a noble objective beyond his own life and I think there is something extremely inspiring about that because he looks at the bigger picture and sees himself as a means to that end." Akinnuoye-Agbaje added, "I worked with director Alan Taylor in trying to maintain Algrim's humanity all the way throughout Kurse's transformation, so that even when you see Kurse the beast, you can still relate to him as being Algrim inside. And symbolically we did that by keeping the same piercing blue eyes throughout."[14]
* Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis:

A political science major who is interning for Foster.[30][32] Her role in the film was expanded from the comic relief sidekick role she played in the first *Thor* film.[33] Dennings said her character is "really bad at real science in this first movie. In the second movie, she's more interested, but she still doesn't know anything about it. She loves Jane, she really wants Jane and Thor to be together. It's almost like her own little soap opera that she watches."[32]
* Ray Stevenson as Volstagg:

A member of the Warriors Three; a group of three Asgardian adventurers who are among Thor's closest comrades, known for both his hearty appetite and wide girth.[34] About the character Stevenson said, "He's got a heart the size of a planet that he wears on his sleeve, so he's like a big kid."[14] Regarding Volstagg's role in this film, Stevenson said, "Volstagg is struggling, he has a brood, they [the Warriors Three] are fighting for hearth and home as much as for the idea of Asgard itself. That's where he has trouble." Explaining, "He's all too aware of how potentially threatening this new enemy is on both the home front and the battlefield."[35]
* Zachary Levi as Fandral:

A member of the Warriors Three, characterized as an irrepressible swashbuckler and romantic.[36] Levi replaced Joshua Dallas in the role due to his commitment on *Once Upon a Time*. Ironically, Levi was originally up for the role in the first film, but had to bow out due to his commitment on *Chuck*.[37] Levi compared the character to Flynn Rider, the character he played in the animated feature,*Tangled*, "Fandral is a little similar to Rider in some ways... He's like this Lothario. He's like Errol Flynn. He loves ladies, as do I".[38] Regarding the dynamic of the Warriors Three, Levi said, "The Warriors Three are here to support Thor. We are his confidants, his best friends. We've all grown up together in a lot of ways and fought many a battle together, escaped death. To me it's the way best friends ought to be—they're there when you need to talk and they're there if you don't want to talk, and they're there if you need to escape from your father's place in a flying skiff!"[14]
* Tadanobu Asano as Hogun:

A member of the Warriors Three, a native of Vanaheim[23] primarily identified by his grim demeanor.[39]
* Jaimie Alexander as Sif:

An Asgardian warrior, Thor's childhood friend and Jane Foster's romantic rival, based on the deity of the same name.[12][40] Alexander said there is more character development for Sif and the film explores the Sif-Thor relationship.[41] Alexander elaborated, "I really tried to bring a little bit more vulnerability in this film. Sif is very much in love with Thor and very much cares about his well-being. So she kicks a lot of butt in this movie but she also opens her heart a lot."[14] Alexander suffered a severe back injury while on the set. About the injury, she said, "It was raining, it was dark outside, it was like 5 in the morning—and I went down a metal staircase and slipped and slipped a disc in my thoracic spine and chipped 11 of my vertebrae. I knocked my left shoulder out of place and tore myrhomboid on my right side... It took me out of filming for a month".[42]
* Rene Russo as Frigga:

The wife of Odin, queen of Asgard, mother of Thor and adoptive mother of Loki, based on the mythological deity of the same name.[43] Russo said that her role was expanded and explores Frigga's relationship with Loki, "You know, they cut me [down] in the first film. Kenneth Branagh sent me a nice note, because he understood, he's an actor. You move on, what are you going to do? But I think they're going to need a good mom in the next film. Loki needs his mom. I have a lot of compassion for [Loki]. But we might have to have a conversation about what he just did".[44]
Additionally, Alice Krige portrays Eir, an Asgardian physician.[45] Chris O'Dowd was cast as Richard,[46][47] a suitor of Jane Foster's. Benicio del Toro, who plays the Collector in Marvel Studios' *Guardians of the Galaxy*, appears in a mid-credits scene with Ophelia Lovibond, who plays his aide Carina.[48][49][50][51] Jonathan Howard plays Ian Boothby,[52] Darcy's intern. Tony Curran plays Bor, Odin's father, based on the deity of the same name.[53][54] Clive Russell plays Tyr, based on the deity of the same name.[55] Richard Brake portrays a captain in the Einherjar.[55] Chris Evans makes an uncredited cameo appearance[56] as Loki masquerading as Captain America, while Thor co-creator Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance[57] as a patient in a mental ward.