I think I’ve just heard a whole lot of Doctor Who fans squeal; Deadline reports that Christopher Eccleston has signed on to play the villain Malekith the Accursed in Thor: The Dark World, the sequel to last year’s hit Marvel movie that starred Chris Hemsworth. Eccleston replaces Mads Mikkelsen, who had to drop out of the movie due to scheduling conflicts arising from his starring role in the upcoming NBC show Hannibal (yes, based off the Hannibal you’re thinking of).
Malekith the Accursed is a supervillain in the Marvel Universe, ruler of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim who is endowed with all sorts of super abilities (strength, intellect, etc.) as well as the ability to manipulate magic and fly by turning into mist. His weakness to iron, however, is a massive hindrance especially since one of Thor’s buddies happens to have iron in his name (guess which one). To be honest, the mythology of Thor is not my favorite in the world and I wasn’t all that pleased with the first film but I do love Eccleston so consider my interest piqued. Maybe he can use the role to finally catapult him to more fruitful work in Hollywood; lord knows G.I.: Rise of Cobra didn’t do much for him (although it should’ve, but that’s a different argument for a different day).
Directed by Game of Thrones helmer Alan Taylor, Thor: The Dark World will hit theaters November 8, 2013 with the entire cast from the first on board to reprise their roles alongside Zachary Levi and other new recruits.
Do you think Eccleston is a good replacement for Mikkelsen? Will Malekith the Accused have to go through any major changes in order to fit in with the movie version of Thor’s mythology?