Thor: The Dark World hits theaters in a little over a week, bringing audiences back to the spires of Asgard, epic battles with mythic monsters, and, of course, pretty men with pretty hair. The Dark World brings a new addition to the thunder god's cinematic rogues gallery: Malekith the Accursed, one-time ruler of the Dark Elves, and wielder of the fanciest hair of all ancient and sinister powers.
Like many of the best parts of Marvel's twist on Norse mythology, Malekith made his ink-and-paper debut during Walter Simonson's seminal run on The Mighty Thor comic book in the ’80s. A master sorcerer and inveterate trickster bent on taking down the gods, Malekith threatened Asgard and Earth alike by manufacturing an alliance between Asgard's enemies and unleashing the deadly Casket of Ancient Winters. Since then, he's been chronically underused in the Marvel universe -- until he was announced as the villain of Thor: The Dark World.
The challenge with Malekith is -- and always has been -- that he's awfully similar to Loki, even to the point of interchangeability. If the story above sounds familiar, it should; it was recycled fairly directly in the first Thor film, with Loki in the dark elf's original role. In fact, since his first appearance in The Mighty Thor #344, Malekith has worked his way through a fair lot of the trickster god's traditional arsenal, from gender-bent shapeshifting and conspiracy to a general penchant for chaos for chaos's sake. Like Loki, he's got a few bones to pick with Asgard in general and Odin in particular; like Loki, he's historically been less inclined to act directly than to set up Rube-Goldbergian revenge plots, pitting the Asgardians against their enemies and each other.
This makes Malekith's selection as the villain of Thor 2 more than a little puzzling: Why not go with a villain who's less likely to disappear in the shadow of Thor's definitive antagonist? While Thor's rogues gallery has always been heavy on tricksters, there are plenty with less in common with Loki. Or perhaps that is what brought Marvel to Malekith in the first place: as a foil less for the thunder god himself than for his fan favorite half-brother.
Based on his portrayal in the latest arc of the *Thor comic book *-- timed to lead up to the release of the new film -- the modern Malekith has become far more direct and brutal, slaughtering his way through the Nine Realms. He's a rougher, angrier, grimmer counterpart to Tom Hiddleston's slippery and supple Loki.
In The Dark World, Malekith is played by Christopher Eccleston, best known as the ninth Doctor of Doctor Who. Eccleston may not have Hiddleston's easy charm, but he's phenomenal at creating characters suspended between the terrifying and compelling, from the battle-worn Doctor to the brutally pragmatic Major Henry West in 28 Days Later. If there's an actor who can bring Malekith out from Loki's shadow -- and make him a compelling villain in his own right -- it's probably Eccleston.
