50 Fun Facts About Thor: the Dark World

Which director of the first Thor film declined to return for Thor: The Dark World?

Kenneth Branagh said the first film had taken so long, and Marvel wanted the next so quickly, that he could not go straight into another; he made a Jack Ryan thriller instead.

The red, liquid weapon Malekith hunts in Thor: The Dark World is later revealed to be which Infinity Stone?

The Reality Stone shows up here as a red fluid rather than a gem, and it spends much of the film inside Jane Foster after she stumbles on its hiding place.

Who plays Malekith in Thor: The Dark World?

Christopher Eccleston took the part after Mads Mikkelsen's talks ended over his commitment to Hannibal; Mikkelsen reached the MCU three years later as the villain of Doctor Strange.

In Thor: The Dark World, what weapon does Malekith seek to unleash on the Nine Realms?

The Aether had lain hidden for five thousand years; it wakes Malekith only because Jane Foster stumbles through a portal into its vault and it seeps into her body.

What is the home world of the Dark Elves called?

Svartalfheim is a wasteland by the time of Thor: The Dark World: the Dark Elves lost their war with Asgard there, and only Malekith and a handful of followers escaped into a long sleep.

What rare alignment of the Nine Realms drives the plot?

The Convergence comes round only once every five thousand years; as it nears, portals open between the worlds and gravity goes haywire, as Jane's team find in an abandoned factory.

What does Jane Foster do the moment Thor reappears after two years away in Thor: The Dark World?

Slaps him, for staying away for two years even though he had been on Earth during the Battle of New York; he apologises and whisks her off to Asgard.

In Thor: The Dark World, who is killed protecting Jane Foster?

Frigga fools Malekith with an illusion of Jane and duels him before Kurse strikes her down; Thor burns half of Malekith's face in revenge.

Where does Malekith plan to unleash his weapon at the center of the alignment?

Greenwich's Old Royal Naval College was the real location for the battle, which then tumbles through portals to other worlds and back as Thor and Malekith fight.

Who is revealed to be impersonating Odin at the end of Thor: The Dark World?

Loki had seemed to die in battle; the soldier who carried the news of his death back to Odin was Loki himself in disguise.

In Thor: The Dark World's mid-credits scene, who do Volstagg and Sif hand Malekith's relic to?

The Collector takes it gladly; once the two Asgardians have gone, he murmurs 'One down, five to go.'

In Thor: The Dark World, why won't the Asgardians keep Malekith's relic on Asgard?

The Tesseract is already there, Volstagg explains, and keeping two Infinity Stones so close together would be unwise.

Who replaced Joshua Dallas as Fandral?

Zachary Levi had been the first choice for the original film but was tied to Chuck; when Once Upon a Time kept Joshua Dallas away from the sequel, the part came back to him.

In a ruse to fool Malekith in Thor: The Dark World, what does Thor's brother appear to do to Thor?

Cut off his hand: the wound is an illusion, staged so that Malekith will draw his weapon out of Jane where Thor can strike at it.

Who plays Algrim, who becomes Kurse?

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje's Algrim lets himself be captured so that he can transform inside Asgard's dungeons, where he sets the other prisoners loose to start a riot.

Whom does Thor visit to ask how Jane Foster is faring on Earth in Thor: The Dark World?

Heimdall, the all-seeing sentry of the Bifröst, can watch Jane from Asgard; it is when she suddenly vanishes from his sight that Thor rushes to Earth.

Which weapon does Thor call to his hand to strike at Malekith in Thor: The Dark World?

Mjolnir comes when Thor calls, but even its lightning cannot destroy Malekith's weapon, and the Dark Elf escapes with it.

Who stood in for Natalie Portman during the post-credits kiss?

Elsa Pataky is Chris Hemsworth's real-life wife: a scheduling conflict kept Portman from the shoot, so the reunion kiss that ends the film is between husband and wife.

Which Avenger actor has an uncredited cameo in Thor: The Dark World?

Chris Evans appears briefly when Thor's brother mockingly turns himself into Captain America as the two make their escape from Asgard.

Who plays Richard, Jane Foster's ill-fated lunch date, in Thor: The Dark World?

Chris O'Dowd's Richard gets one interrupted lunch: Jane's intern bursts in to say the instruments are picking up strange signals, and the date is over.

Which director quit Thor: The Dark World in December 2011, citing creative differences?

Patty Jenkins wanted a Romeo and Juliet story, with Jane stranded on Earth and Thor forbidden to come for her; Marvel wanted a different film, and she went on to direct Wonder Woman instead.

Which HBO series did Alan Taylor draw on to make The Dark World grittier?

Game of Thrones was his calling card: Alan Taylor had directed the execution of Ned Stark, and said he came in to 'bring some Game of Thrones to it'.

Which villain was planned for Thor: The Dark World but held back until Thor: Ragnarok?

Hela was almost The Dark World's villain before Malekith got the job, Kevin Feige later said; when she finally arrived in 2017, played by Cate Blanchett, she shattered Thor's hammer.

Thor: The Dark World's mid-credits scene was shot by a guest director to set up which later MCU film?

Guardians of the Galaxy's own director, James Gunn, shot the scene himself months before his film opened, so that one of its characters could make his entrance here first.

Who composed the score for Thor: The Dark World?

Brian Tyler, who had just scored Iron Man 3 for Marvel, was brought in less than five months before release, after the composer first hired, Carter Burwell, left the film.

What punning working title hid Thor: The Dark World during filming?

Thursday Mourning plays on the hero's name, since Thursday means 'Thor's day'; residents near Bourne Wood in Surrey were told that a film of that title was coming to shoot.

Which wisecracking intern of Jane Foster's does Kat Dennings play in Thor: The Dark World?

Darcy Lewis, herself only an intern, now has an intern of her own, Ian, and it is she who drags Jane out of a lunch date when the instruments start picking up strange signals.

Which country's black volcanic landscapes stood in for the Dark Elves' home world in Thor: The Dark World?

Iceland gave the production its barren wasteland for real; visual-effects artists then added ruins, mountains and elf ships on top.

At which ancient monument is Erik Selvig caught running around naked?

Stonehenge was a real location for the shoot; in the story, a TV report of Selvig's antics there leads his friends to the psychiatric ward where he is being held.

Who is Bor, the warrior seen defeating Malekith in the prologue of Thor: The Dark World?

Odin's father led the Asgardian army that beat the Dark Elves five thousand years earlier, then hid their weapon where he thought no one would ever find it.

Which writer-director was 'airlifted in' to rewrite scenes on Thor: The Dark World?

Joss Whedon flew in 'like a SWAT team' to fix one scene that was not working on the page, and the director grabbed him to patch two more before he got back on his plane.

Which actor plays Thor's adopted brother, the god of mischief, in Thor: The Dark World?

Tom Hiddleston first auditioned to play Thor himself, being tall, blond and classically trained, and was given the scheming brother instead.

What finally kills Malekith at the end of Thor: The Dark World?

His own falling ship: Thor and Jane's team teleport Malekith back to his home world, then send the toppling vessel after him, and it lands on top of him.

Which country's coast was filmed by helicopter to give Asgard real terrain in Thor: The Dark World?

Norway's Lofoten islands, inside the Arctic Circle, supplied the fjords and cliffs: the effects team wanted a real landscape to build the digital city into rather than inventing everything.

Which vehicle floats in mid-air when gravity goes haywire in Thor: The Dark World?

A cement truck, and largely a real one: the crew mounted it on a big hydraulic rig that could be programmed to vary its speed and movement, rather than leaving the whole shot to computers.

Who plays Erik Selvig, Jane Foster's mentor, in Thor: The Dark World?

Stellan Skarsgård plays Selvig as a man knocked off balance by the events of The Avengers, when a god took over his mind; he spends part of this film in a psychiatric ward.

What finally destroys the near-unstoppable Kurse in Thor: The Dark World?

An implosion grenade, one of Kurse's own: run through on the blade sticking out of the monster's chest, Thor's brother sets it off as he falls.

What sentence does Odin pass on his adopted son at the start of Thor: The Dark World for his attack on Earth?

Life imprisonment in Asgard's dungeons, where his mother keeps visiting him in secret as a projection; he is still in his cell when the Dark Elves attack.

What is Jane Foster's profession in Thor: The Dark World and the rest of the Thor films?

Astrophysicist: Jane has moved to London to chase unexplained readings, and her own equipment leads her to the portal that swallows her.

Which film ended Thor: The Dark World's two-week run atop the North American box office?

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opened to $158 million that weekend, while Thor's takings fell by three-fifths to $14 million.

Which was the film's largest international market by total earnings?

China brought in $55.3 million, ahead of Russia's $35.7 million.

Thor: The Dark World was the lowest-rated MCU film on Rotten Tomatoes until which 2021 release?

Eternals slipped a single point below The Dark World's 66% as its first reviews came in, ending the Thor sequel's eight years at the bottom of the MCU table.

Which Marvel One-Shot came with the home release of Thor: The Dark World?

All Hail the King visits Trevor Slattery, Iron Man 3's fake Mandarin, living like a star in prison; its story of the real Mandarin was picked up years later in Shang-Chi.

At the end of Thor: The Dark World, what does Thor turn down when Odin offers it?

The throne of Asgard: Thor tells his father he is not ready for the crown and would rather go back to Earth and Jane.

Which Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode picks up in the aftermath of Thor: The Dark World?

"The Well" opens with Coulson's team clearing up the wreckage in London, then sends them after the pieces of an Asgardian staff that gives whoever touches it a berserker's strength.

Don Payne, a story writer on Thor: The Dark World, long wrote for which animated sitcom?

The Simpsons was Don Payne's home for years before he wrote both Thor films; he died of bone cancer in March 2013 and never saw this one released.

By what nickname is the Bifröst, Asgard's gateway to the other realms, known in the Thor films?

The Rainbow Bridge was destroyed at the end of the first film; this one opens two years later with it rebuilt and Thor using it to restore order across the Nine Realms.

Which actress plays the Asgardian warrior Sif in Thor: The Dark World?

Jaimie Alexander briefly plays a second part: during the escape from Asgard, Thor is magically given Sif's appearance, so for a moment she is playing Thor.

Director Alan Taylor said in 2021 he would love to recut Thor: The Dark World, inspired by which film?

Zack Snyder's Justice League had every director cheering, Alan Taylor said; Marvel had changed his film 'quite a bit', but he did not expect to get that phone call.

Hogun of the Warriors Three is no Asgardian: which realm is his home?

Vanaheim is where an early battle of Thor: The Dark World is fought: Thor's band drives off the raiders attacking it, and Hogun stays behind to help his people rebuild.