For Marvel fans, the news that Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman (Black Swan), Tom Hiddleston and Stellan Skarsgård would be returning in Thor: The Dark World in 2013 was pretty massive. With the ongoing success of comic book action films, like Avengers and Iron Man 3, it was bound to be another big box office winner for Stan Lee and the Thunder God, but the question was whether or not it would live up to the expectations of its fans.
The first Thor movie split opinions a little with some wanting more hard hitting action, while others loved the stunning cinematic realisation of the Thor universe. However, the second film in the series looked like it was going to bridge the divides, based on the trailer below, to produce more epic battles than before, with the same attention to detail and visualisation that made Thor so impressive. To find out how the film actually turned out, read our Thor: The Dark World DVD review.
In the second movie it’s not just his Machiavellian brother, Loki, Thor (Chris Hemsworth – Rush) and Asgard have got to face. With the villain of the first movie safely imprisoned in an impenetrable Asgardian cell, Thor faces a new attack led by the malevolent forces of Malekith, the ruler of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim. With the new enemy wielding a seemingly unbeatable power, Thor turns to the science of his main squeeze Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and her colleague Dr. Eric Selvig (Skarsgård).
However, when things don’t exactly go according to plan, Thor is forced to strike an alliance with Loki (Hiddleston) to bring down the wrath of Malekith and his elementary force weapon, the Ether. The down side being that if they’re successful in that battle Thor must then face a vengeful Loki straight off the bat.
Sir Anthony Hopkins (Hitchcock) returns as Thor’s extremely stern father Odin and the impassive presence of Idris Elba (Pacific Rim) takes on the role of the mighty Haimdall, guardian of the Bifröst Bridge between Asgard and Earth. They’re added to by Christopher Eccleston (Dr Who) as the sinister Malekith, Kat Dennings (2 Broke Girls) as Foster’s intern Darcy, Jaimie Alexander as Thor’s childhood warrior lady-friend Sif, Rene Russo as Frigga, the queen of Asgard, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Lost) as his battling dark elf, Algrim the Strong.
Kenneth Branagh didn’t returning as director of the second movie, having passed the Norse god mantle onto Alan Taylor (Lost, Mad Men, Game of Thrones). President of Production at Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige (Iron Man 3), will be returning as producer, having been involved in every Marvel film hitting the cinema since the first X-Men movie.
Thor: The Dark World had a UK cinematic release date of the 30th October 2013 and it was released on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download on the 24th February 2014. It continues the new-found Marvel movie renaissance that kicked up a notch with the recent addition of Iron Man, Thor and the rest of The Avengers into the mix. With Captain America: The Winter Soldier coming soon too, along with Guardians of the Galaxy, there’s a lot on the cards for the comic book masters of old.
