And Fansplosions Abound

The Doctor Vs. Thor – Christopher Eccleston Cast As The Villain In Thor: The Dark World

by Jill Pantozzi | 10:14 am, August 2nd, 2012

A Time Lord against the God of Thunder? Now that is a fight I’d pay to see and pretty soon, you’ll be able to! Doctor Who actor Christopher Eccleston has been cast in Thor 2, aka Thor: The Dark World. Hit the jump to find out which Marvel villain he’ll be playing.

You may recall, Mads Mikkelsen was originally set to play the villain in Thor: The Dark World but later dropped out. Now it will be Chris vs. Chris as Eccleston steps into the role opposite Chris Hemsworth. The villain? Malekith the Accursed, ruler of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim.

Non-comic readers say, “Who?”

To be honest, I’m a comic reader and this guy isn’t familiar to me either. Malekith the Accursed isn’t exactly a household name like Lex Luthor, now is he? Malekith was introduced in Thor #344 in 1984 and is part of a race of Dark Elves. Like Thor, they possess superhuman strength, speed, agility, etc. In the comics, Malekith has used the Casket of Ancient Winters, an artifact which causes the owner to grow younger, and something you may remember seeing in Odin’s weaponry (and used by Loki) in the original Thor film. And yes, Malekith and Loki have been known to work together on occasion. Using magic, he can also teleport, project energy, and create illusions, though he’s vulnerable to iron.

Of course Eccleston isn’t only known for Who. He’s had roles in 28 Days Later, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and Heroes. But I know there’s going to be a large segment of the Thor sequel viewing audience who will be waiting for the actor to reach for his sonic screwdriver while fighting Hemsworth. And perhaps, even rooting for him to win.

Thor: The Dark World will hit theaters November 8, 2013.

(via HitFix)

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TAGS: Chris Hemsworth | Christopher Eccleston | Doctor Who | Thor | Thor: The Dark World

http://twitter.com/captainsharmie captain sharmie

*happy flail* my doctor in another action movie? oh, fantastic.
http://twitter.com/aquariusdreamer Iloura

Omgerd Mads dropped out? I hadn’t heard that he was up for the sequel. Eccleston was great in Gone in 60 seconds. Love Tennant as the Dr from the new stuff though :P
http://twitter.com/LJo83 Lindsay Beaton

So we’re at Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Zachary Levi, now Christopher Eccleston…well, I suppose if the movie screens didn’t explode during Avengers…
http://twitter.com/DoctorOddfellow Doctor Oddfellow

It bothers me that the Casket seems to be the MacGuffin yet again. Surely Thor can go questing for Surtur’s sword or something awesome like that?
http://twitter.com/DoctorOddfellow Doctor Oddfellow

Who doesn’t? And Smith’s just taking that legacy and making it even better. This season is going to be the best yet.

Eccles was great in 60 but I’m still torn about GI Joe and I’m not sure about Amelia either. However, his villainy performance in Elizabeth? Out. Standing. That’s the role I’ll be reviewing in preparation for Thor 2.
http://www.facebook.com/aaron.treat.75 Aaron Treat

Tennant is my favorite Doctor, but I have a ton of affection for Eccleston too. Until Doctor Who I’d only ever seen him play ice cold villians and bastards, but in Who he was so warm and human. It was a revelation and a good illustration of the dangers of type casting.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001470948875 Caitie Foster

To be fair, there’s no guarantee they’re going to use it at all. The Casket is more linked to the Jötunn than the Dark Elves, at least in the films. And, after 60-odd years of flailing away at each other, pretty much everyone has had dealings with everything at this point in the comic universe. Nor does comic-verse necessarily translate to cinema-verse — for example, Laufey was killed on the same day Odin took Loki in the comics, but survived that war by a good thousand years in the movies. Even if they do use the Casket, however, the movie only really showed it as a boxy Freeze-Ray before, and I definitely got the feeling Loki only sort-of knew what he was doing with it. I wouldn’t be upset to see some of its other properties, in the hands of someone who really knows what he’s doing with it.
http://psychotronicvortex.tumblr.com/ Psychotronic (Michael F.)

What else can I say but… FANTASTIC!
Carmen Sandiego

Thanks for reminding me that it’s not the end of the world if they don’t have The Executioner…but I still demand Enchantress!!!
Anonymous

Oh wow, I love Malekith. Excellent choice (and it opens up some interesting Loki possibilities, too). And such great casting! I can’t wait.
Anonymous

As much as I like fellow Scandinavian Mikkelsen – this is AWESOME! Eccleston has been criminally underused and misused by Hollywood (Heroes – wtf?!) This may be his moment!!
He will be formidable.
Gridlock Manifesto

As much as I like Eccleston, I think he is the perfect replacement; however, I still would have preferred Mikkelsen. Unfortunately the world isn’t a perfect place, as I know because I don’t always get my way. Still, I’m glad that they chose such an epic plot, and there’s still room for Enchantress, so perhaps a surprise? My kids lost my Blu-ray copy of Thor, so I just sent for it from my Blockbuster @Home. My Dish coworker came over to watch all of The Avengers prequel movies, just before seeing The Avengers. Blockbuster @Home really is the best way to get my Blu-ray movies for the least amount of money, and I can keep the movie as long as I want to without overage fees.