Thor: The Dark World

It is the sequel to Thor (2011) and the eighth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Alan Taylor from a screenplay by Christopher Yost and the writing team of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.

It stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor alongside Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Christopher Eccleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano, Jaimie Alexander, Rene Russo, and Anthony Hopkins.

In the film, Thor and Loki (Hiddleston) team up to save the Nine Realms from the Dark Elves. Development of a sequel to Thor began in April 2011 when producer Kevin Feige announced plans for it to follow the MCU crossover film The Avengers (2012).

In July, Thor director Kenneth Branagh withdrew from the sequel. Taylor was hired to replace him as director in January 2012. The supporting cast filled out that August with the hiring of Eccleston and Akinnuoye-Agbaje as the film’s villains.

Filming took place from September to December 2012, primarily in Surrey, England, as well as in Iceland and London. Taylor wanted the film to be more grounded than Thor, inspired by his work on Game of Thrones.

He hired Carter Burwell to compose the score, but Marvel replaced Burwell with Brian Tyler.

Thor: The Dark World premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on October 22, 2013, and was released in the United States on November 8, as part of Phase Two of the MCU.

The film was a commercial success, grossing over $644 million worldwide and becoming the tenth highest-grossing film of 2013.

It received praise for the performances of Hemsworth and Hiddleston, visual effects, and action sequences, but was criticized for its generic villain and lack of depth.

Retrospectively, Taylor expressed dissatisfaction with the film and said Marvel substantially altered it from his original vision during post-production. Two sequels have been released: Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022).

After conquering Malekith’s forces, including enhanced warriors called the Kursed, on their home world of Svartalfheim, Bor sends the Aether to a hidden world that no one can reach.

Unknown to Bor, Malekith escapes with his lieutenant Algrim and a handful of Dark Elves. They go into suspended animation. In present-day Asgard, Loki stands imprisoned for his various crimes on Earth.

Meanwhile, Thor and his companions repel marauders on Vanaheim to pacify the Nine Realms following the reconstruction of the Bifröst—the “Rainbow Bridge” between realms which was destroyed two years earlier.

The Asgardians 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 travels to an abandoned factory where such portals have appeared. Foster is teleported to the hidden world where the Aether is stored and it enters her body.

Thor finds Foster and takes her to Asgard, where Odin warns that the Aether will not only kill her but herald a catastrophic prophecy. Malekith, awakened by the Aether’s release, attacks Asgard searching for Foster.

Thor’s mother Frigga is killed trying to protect her. Thor recruits the help of Loki, who knows of a secret portal to Svartalfheim where they plan to confront Malekith, in return for vengeance on Malekith for killing their mother.

On Svartalfheim, Loki pretends to cut off Thor’s hand using an illusion and tricks Malekith into drawing the Aether out of Foster but Thor’s attempt to destroy it fails.

Malekith merges with the Aether and leaves as Loki seemingly dies while killing Algrim. Thor and Foster reunite in London with Foster’s mentor Dr. Erik Selvig.

They learn that Malekith plans to plunge the entire universe into darkness by unleashing the Aether at the center of the Convergence in Greenwich.

Thor battles Malekith across multiple worlds and helps his mortal comrades use their scientific equipment to transport Malekith to Svartalfheim, where he is crushed by his own ship.

Thor returns to Asgard, where he declines Odin’s offer to take the throne. After he leaves, Loki is revealed to be alive and impersonating Odin.

In a mid-credits scene, Volstagg and Sif visit the Collector and entrust the Aether to his care, with the Tesseract already in Asgard, as they fear having two Infinity Stones so close together would be dangerous.

As they leave, the Collector states his desire to acquire the other five Stones. In a post-credits scene, Foster and Thor reunite on Earth.