100 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.

Thor co-creator Stan Lee makes his cameo in Thor: The Dark World playing what kind of character?

A mental ward patient is Stan Lee's guise here, one of his many Marvel film cameos. He created the comic-book Thor with Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby.

Which star plays an actor portraying Thor's brother when Thor: Ragnarok restages the events of Thor: The Dark World?

Matt Damon took the cameo after Chris Hemsworth, a friend, put his name forward. The scene is a stage play of this film's events, performed by Asgardian actors.

Which later film sends Thor and Rocket back in time to Asgard during the events of Thor: The Dark World?

Avengers: Endgame revisits 2013 Asgard on its time-travel mission, and even uses footage of Natalie Portman from a deleted scene of this film.

Paramount released the first Thor film, but which studio distributed Thor: The Dark World two years later?

Disney handled the sequel itself and released it in 3D, with an IMAX 3D version opening overseas from October 30, 2013.

Which Welsh actor returns as Odin, the king of Asgard and Thor's father, in Thor: The Dark World?

Anthony Hopkins said he plays Odin like a human being: he grows a beard, tries to look impressive and keeps it as real as possible.

Which star of the BBC's Luther plays Asgard's all-seeing gatekeeper in Thor: The Dark World?

Idris Elba said the sequel gave his sentry more to do, after a part he called very small and functional in the first film.

In which later Marvel film does Jane Foster, the scientist of Thor: The Dark World, take up the hammer herself?

Thor: Love and Thunder brought her back in 2022 as the Mighty Thor, after she and three of her co-stars sat out the 2017 film entirely.

Which actress returns as Asgard's queen, mother to Thor and his adopted brother, in Thor: The Dark World?

Rene Russo said her part was cut down in the first film, so the sequel expands it and explores the queen's bond with her wayward adopted son.

Which New Zealand filmmaker took over the series for the sequel that followed Thor: The Dark World?

Taika Waititi directed the 2017 follow-up after this film's director chose not to return, and also voiced its rock warrior Korg.

Thor: The Dark World earned Chris Hemsworth an MTV Movie Award nomination as a hero and another in which category?

Best Shirtless Performance went to Zac Efron instead, and Henry Cavill's Superman beat Thor to the hero prize, so the film left the 2014 ceremony empty-handed.

After defeat in Thor: The Dark World's prologue, how do Malekith and his surviving Dark Elves pass the ages?

In suspended animation, Malekith and a handful of followers wait out thousands of years, until the release of their lost weapon finally wakes them.

In what kind of London building does Jane Foster find the strange portals early in Thor: The Dark World?

An abandoned factory is where the portals have begun bending the laws of physics, and one of them whisks Jane Foster away to the hidden world holding Malekith's weapon.

Where does Malekith's long-hidden weapon end up after Jane Foster stumbles on it in Thor: The Dark World?

Inside her body is where the ancient weapon settles, which is why Thor takes Jane Foster to Asgard and why Odin warns that it will kill her.

Why does Thor free his imprisoned brother from Asgard's dungeons partway through Thor: The Dark World?

He knows a secret portal out of Asgard, leading straight to the Dark Elves' home world, where Thor hopes to confront Malekith.

What skill did Thor's mother pass on to her adopted son, the villain turned ally of Thor: The Dark World?

Magic was her gift to him: Asgard's queen taught the future god of mischief his craft, and he grew closer to her than to Odin.

Which earlier ordeal lies behind Erik Selvig's breakdown in Thor: The Dark World?

Mind control by Thor's brother, a year earlier, left the scientist unstable. His actor joked that having a god in your head for a while causes psychological problems.

Jane Foster has moved to London by Thor: The Dark World, leaving which US state where she first met Thor?

New Mexico is where Thor crash-landed in the first film. Natalie Portman said the scientist had since moved on, upset that he never knocked on her door when he returned to Earth.

The actor behind Kurse in Thor: The Dark World called the monster a blend of a lava creature and which animal?

A bull was his comparison for the beast's unstoppable power. The suit weighed about 40 pounds, and he reckoned 80% of the monster on screen was him, not CGI.

What do Malekith and his Dark Elves mostly speak among themselves in Thor: The Dark World?

An invented language called Shiväisith was built for the film. Malekith's actor found its many syllables hard to deliver naturally and guessed there was some Finnish in it.

Which screenwriting duo worked on Thor: The Dark World between drafts of Captain America: The Winter Soldier?

Markus and McFeely were among a lot of writers on the script and were unsure they would be credited; in the end they shared the screenplay credit with Christopher Yost.

The first director hired for Thor: The Dark World wanted a story modelled on which Shakespeare play?

Romeo and Juliet was the model: Jane would be stranded on Earth with Thor forbidden to come and save her. The director left over creative differences before filming began.

Which regular composer for the Coen brothers was hired to score Thor: The Dark World but left within weeks?

Carter Burwell was hired by April 2013 and gone by May. Marvel's production chief said it just didn't seem like the right fit, with no time left for trial and error.

Which famous British film studio hosted Thor: The Dark World's shoot between October and December 2012?

Shepperton and nearby Longcross Studios, both in Surrey, hosted the production after it began that September in the county's Bourne Wood.

In which famous part of London's West End did Thor: The Dark World hold its world premiere in October 2013?

Leicester Square and its Odeon cinema hosted the premiere on October 22, 2013. British audiences got the film eight days later, before American ones.

Which numbered block of Marvel Cinematic Universe films contains Thor: The Dark World and ends with Ant-Man?

Phase Two opened with Iron Man 3 in May 2013, built towards the crossover Avengers: Age of Ultron, and made this film its second release.

Thor: The Dark World's opening weekend took a studio record for November from which 2004 animated film?

The Incredibles lost the record when the sequel opened to $85.7 million in North America, about 30% more than the first Thor film had managed.

Which comics writer-artist created Malekith, the villain of Thor: The Dark World, during his 1980s run on Thor?

Walt Simonson introduced Malekith the Accursed in Thor #344, published in June 1984, and the Dark Elf's first story ran through six straight issues.

At which annual fan convention was the title Thor: The Dark World first announced in July 2012?

San Diego Comic-Con saw the title revealed in 2012, and a year later the actor playing Thor's brother took its stage in character to introduce footage from the film.

Fandral's new actor in Thor: The Dark World likened the swashbuckling warrior to which classic Hollywood star?

Errol Flynn was his comparison: he called Fandral a Lothario who loves the ladies, and said Thor's comrades are the kind of best friends who are there whether or not you want to talk.

Joshua Dallas gave up the role of Fandral before Thor: The Dark World to stay with which fairy-tale TV series?

Once Upon a Time kept him too busy to return, so the part went to an actor who had lost it the first time round to a TV commitment of his own.

Which Iron Man 3 actor returns as Trevor Slattery in the short film bundled with Thor: The Dark World's home release?

Ben Kingsley returns as the hapless actor, now a prison inmate who is the subject of a documentary. The short arrived with the film's Blu-ray in February 2014.

Which Oscar winner makes his first Marvel appearance in the mid-credits scene of Thor: The Dark World?

Benicio del Toro debuts here in a role he repeated in two more Marvel films through 2018. His Academy Award came for the 2000 crime drama Traffic.

What is young Ian Boothby's role in Thor: The Dark World?

An intern's intern is his lot: Jane Foster's volunteer assistant has taken on a helper of her own, played by Jonathan Howard.

Which Japanese actor plays the grim warrior Hogun, one of Thor's closest comrades, in Thor: The Dark World?

Tadanobu Asano has played Hogun since the first film, a warrior identified mainly by his grim demeanour, and returned to the part in the 2017 sequel.

Which actor, once Marvel's Punisher on the big screen, plays the hearty Volstagg in Thor: The Dark World?

Ray Stevenson, the star of Punisher: War Zone, called Volstagg a big kid with a heart the size of a planet that he wears on his sleeve.

Which mobile games company made the official tie-in game released alongside Thor: The Dark World?

Gameloft announced the free-to-play game in July 2013, with an original story co-written by Christopher Yost, one of the film's own screenwriters.

Which London Underground station, also seen in Skyfall, was a filming location for Thor: The Dark World?

Charing Cross keeps a set of closed Jubilee line platforms in working order, so film crews often use them when a modern Underground station is needed.

By what name do Asgardians know Earth, one of the Nine Realms, in Thor: The Dark World and the other Thor films?

Midgard is the Asgardians' name for Earth, taken straight from the Norse mythological location of the same name. Thor spends the film defending it from Malekith.

Which Saving Private Ryan screenwriter shares the story credit on Thor: The Dark World?

Robert Rodat was commissioned in early 2012 to rewrite the script, and ended up sharing the story credit with Don Payne, a writer on the first film.

Which Danish actor held talks to play a villain in Thor: The Dark World before the series Hannibal ruled it out?

Mads Mikkelsen said his meeting with the filmmakers came a bit too late. Benedict Cumberbatch, later Marvel's Doctor Strange, was also in the running to play Malekith.

Stranded on the Dark Elves' home world in Thor: The Dark World, how do Thor and Jane Foster get back to London?

A portal in a cave gets them home: the alignment of the worlds is opening doorways at random, and this one drops the pair back in London.

Natalie Portman said Jane's trip to Asgard in Thor: The Dark World must not play like which big-screen comedy duo?

Bill & Ted was the tone she wanted to avoid, along with a valley girl dumped into Shakespeareland. This time Jane, not Thor, is the fish out of water.

What did Thor: The Dark World's makers keep unchanged when Algrim becomes the monstrous Kurse, to show the elf within?

His blue eyes stay the same throughout, because the actor and the director wanted audiences to relate to the beast as still being Algrim inside.

The composer of Thor: The Dark World said its score drew on Star Wars and which fantasy film series?

The Lord of the Rings was the other touchstone: the composer described the film as science fiction meeting classic medieval war, and wrote regal themes as epic as he could make them.

Which London landmark, famous for its food stalls, was among Thor: The Dark World's filming locations?

Borough Market joined Wembley and Hayes on the list of London locations, in a shoot that was otherwise based mostly at studios in Surrey.

Which Marvel Studios president produced Thor: The Dark World and announced the sequel before the first film opened?

Kevin Feige said in April 2011 that Thor would go off into a new adventure after his first team-up film, weeks before the original Thor opened in American cinemas.

Marvel hired Thor: The Dark World's director partly for his work on Boardwalk Empire and which other acclaimed TV drama?

Mad Men was on the list: Marvel's studio chief said the director's television work brought a few more layers of patina, texture and reality to golden Asgard.

Which effects house, known for video-game cinematics, built the mostly digital prologue of Thor: The Dark World?

Blur Studio made the prologue, set 5,000 years before the main story. Going digital freed the fighters to move, because the live-action costumes were too constrictive.

Which Norse deity does Clive Russell play in a small role in Thor: The Dark World?

Tyr is his part: Clive Russell joined the cast a few weeks into filming, along with Richard Brake as a captain of the Einherjar.

Alice Krige, the Borg Queen of Star Trek: First Contact, plays what kind of Asgardian in Thor: The Dark World?

A physician called Eir is her part, and the film also casts Talulah Riley as an Asgardian nurse.