Thor: The Dark World (2013) Film Review

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

THOR: THE DARK WORLD

Starring Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Natalie Portman (Jane Foster), Anthony Hopkins (Odin), Rene Russo (Frigga), Jaimie Alexander (Sif), Idris Elba (Heimdall), Stellan Skarsgard (Erik Selvig), Kat Dennings (Darcy Lewis), and Christopher Eccleston (Malekith) with special appearances by Stan Lee and Chris Evans with a mid-credits appearance by Benicio Del Toro as The Collector

Directed by Alan Taylor

Produced by Kevin Feige

Written by Christopher Yost with Christopher Marcus, and Stephen McFeely

Music By Brian Tyler

Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures

Run Time: 1 hour and 52 minutes

World Premier: October 22, 2013, in London, England

Opening Weekend Box Office: $85 million (North America)

Worldwide Box Office: $644 million

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 66%

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

Memorable Thor: The Dark World Quotes

“The one challenge that all directors face is that this is a story that needs to stand unto itself, but it cannot stand apart from the rest of the Marvel [Cinematic] Universe.” – Craig Kyle addressing the directing issues that Marvel Studios encountered during the making of Thor: The Dark World.

“While the relationship between Loki and Thor certainly has changed and progressed, a lot of Thor 2 is picking up where it left off in terms of Jane, who you just saw for a moment on a computer monitor [in The Avengers], and also, what’s been going on in the Nine Realms without the Asgardians being able to use the Bifrost.” – Kevin Feige addressing the set-up for Marvel Studios’ second Thor film.

“It was always my instinct, and taste, to spend more time off-Earth. It’s also where we started to solidify our reputation for portals – which now is a big part of everything we do. Nowadays, we have sorcerers that can make portals whenever they want. Thor: The Dark World was a way to show, even when on Earth, that they can go back and forth to other worlds really quickly.” – Kevin Feige reflecting on Thor: The Dark World

“In my case, we had a movie where Thor broke up with his girlfriend and his brother died. By the time we released [Thor: The Dark World], they didn’t break up and the brother was alive.” – A disgruntled Alan Taylor recalling his experience on Thor: The Dark World

“It was hard to figure out the tone of [Thor: The Dark World]. It certainly looked beautiful. The sets were amazing. The cinematography was great. We had some good performances, but the story didn’t quite add up. And tonally, it wasn’t correct. We put our heads together. Now, I don’t think people will say Thor 2 is the best film, but bringing it from where it was, which was our own fault, to where it got to, I was really proud of that.” – Louis D’Esposito.

“In Kenneth Branagh’s Thor, Loki has quite a tragic arc. He evokes the audience’s sympathy, and people understand why he’s malevolent. Then in Joss Whedon’s The Avengers, he is a true trickster, somebody who lives and breathes for chaos and mischief. Joss Whedon essentially said, ‘You are our villain, and you must have as much fun as you possibly can, because Loki is having a great time.’ It felt like in The Avengers the audience latched on to that sense of mischief and playfulness. So, by the time I came out at San Diego Comic Con, they were marching to the beat of that drum as well. They just enjoyed it so much, and I was able to just surf on a wave of their own enjoyment. It was a remarkable thing, because I’d only played Loki on-screen and on set. To suddenly step out into the real world, in front of 7,000 people, was so joyful. It was unrepeatable.” – Tom Hiddleston discussing the evolution of Loki on film … and on-stage

Tom Hiddleston as Loki at San Diego Comic Con

Fun Thor: The Dark World Facts

In the Spring of 2011, weeks before the theatrical release of Marvel Studios’ Thor, Kevin Feige was already thinking about – and talking about a potential sequel, collaborating with writer Don Payne (who worked on the first Thor film) on ideas for a follow-up solo adventure featuring the God of Thunder.

In June-2011, following the box office success of Thor, Walt Disney Pictures and Marvel Studios officially announced a sequel, to be released on July 26, 2013. It was also confirmed that Kenneth Branagh would not return to direct the sequel.

On October 13, 2011, Marvel Studios announced the hiring of Patty Jenkins to direct the second Thor film. Jenkins would have been the first female director to make an MCU film for Marvel Studios, but by the end of the year, she left the Thor sequel, citing creative differences with Marvel Studios. On December 24, 2011, Marvel Studios announced the hiring of Alan Taylor to replace Jenkins as the director of the second Thor film. These changes would only be the beginning of what was Marvel Studios’ most troubled production since The Incredible Hulk.

The original lead villain for the second Thor film was intended to be Hela, but Ike Perlmutter and his Marvel Creative Committee shot this idea down for the same lame reason the idea of a lead female villain was denied during the production of Iron Man 3 – toys based on female Marvel characters don’t sell. Script and plot revisions were consequently made, and it was decided that the Dark Elf Malekith would be the lead villain, with Christopher Eccleston cast in the role. Actor Benedict Cumberbatch was considered for the role of Malekith. He would go on to portray Doctor Stephen Strange within the Marvel Cinematic Universe while Hela would eventually make her MCU debut as the lead villain in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok, which came after Marvel Studios (with the approval of Disney) split away from Marvel Entertainment.

On July 14, 2012, at San Diego Comic Con, Kevin Feige announced that Marvel Studios’ second Thor film would be titled Thor: The Dark World. Christopher Yost wrote the screenplay, with the writing team of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely making significant contributions along with input from Joss Whedon.

On September 10, 2012, filming on Thor: The Dark World commenced in Surrey, England. In October, production moved to Iceland before jumping to London. Filming also took place at Stonehenge and filming wrapped on December 14, 2012. All was not well however, as the Marvel Studios team were not pleased with the final product, taking issue with multiple plot developments. A staggering 35-days of re-shoots would be required to right the proverbial ship. The Thor: The Dark World re-shoots were a logistical nightmare for Marvel Studios. Rumor has it that much of what was re-shot involved Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, including the reversal of the character’s intended death and making the God a Mischief a much more prominent character in the film.

The mid-credits scene for Thor: The Dark World was filmed by Guardians of the Galaxy Director James Gunn and not only introduced The Collector (portrayed by Benicio Del Toro) but confirmed the Aether as an Infinity Stone; something that excited longtime Marvel comic book readers to no end due to the mythology of the “Infinity Gems” (as they are known in the comics) and how they relate to Thanos, who made his MCU debut during the credits of The Avengers with the revelation that it was he who was behind Loki’s invasion of Earth.

In Thor: The Dark World, Asgard was made to exhibit a grittier and more natural look as opposed to all of the golden luster with which the Realm Eternal was presented in 2011’s Thor. This was done to capture more of the Viking quality and the weight of its history.

In Thor: The Dark World, the rock creature that Thor dismantles early in the film is a Kronan. Four-years later, audiences would fall in love with another Kronan in Marvel Studios’ Thor: Ragnarok when they were introduced to Korg (voiced by Ragnarok Director Taika Waititi).

In Thor: The Dark World, viewers are treated to at least a glimpse of each of the Nine Realms that comprise the World Tree Yggdrasil: Asgard, Midgard (Earth), Svartalfheim, Jotunheim, Muspelheim, Nidavellir, Alfheim, Vanaheim, and Niflheim. In later years, Muspelheim would be further explored in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok in which Marvel Studios would introduce the Fire Demon King Surtur, while Nidavellir (the home of the Dwarves) would be visited in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War where King Eitri was introduced. From there, in 2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder, Thor would venture to Alfheim to assist a wounded Lady Sif.

Tom Hiddleston as Loki at San Diego Comic Con

In Thor: The Dark World, Stellan Skarsgard’s Erik Selvig gets locked-up in a mental hospital due to the lingering effects of being under Loki’s spell and influenced by the Cosmic Scepter. The Selvig character mentions in The Avengers: “The Tesseract has showed me so much. It’s more than knowledge, it’s truth.” Some of this “knowledge” is explored in Thor: The Dark World during a scene in the mental hospital where Selvig is teaching the other patients. On the chalkboard behind Selvig, terms can be seen such as “616-Universe” (later the designation assigned to the Sacred Timeline), “The Crossroads” (a Nexus Point to an infinite number of dimensions), The Fault (a giant tear in space-time), and the Nexus of All Reality (a cross-dimensional gateway that provides a pathway to any and all realities). In addition to these deep dives into Marvel lore that seem to reference the MCU Multiverse, there are also several real-word scientific terms and references to Quantum Mechanics, including Dark Energy, The Theory of Relativity, and Schrodinger’s Cat. Selvig’s lecture also features a cameo appearance by Thor co-creator Stan Lee as one of the mental patients that are being subjected to Selvig’s ramblings. This marked Stan’s eighth MCU appearance.

During shooting, actor Tom Hiddleston donned Chris Evans’ Captain America suit from The Avengers and did an impression of Evans, who found the parody to be greatly entertaining. When Evans visited the set of Thor: The Dark World, he agreed to film the cameo sequence seen in the movie, going so far as to do an impression of Tom Hiddleston’s impression of him.

Actress Natalie Portman was not available to film the post-credits scene that features Thor returning to Earth and kissing Jane Foster. Chris Hemsworth’s wife Elsa filled-in for Portman instead. Elsa would later appear in 2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder as the Wolf Woman that the God of Thunder can be seen making out with.

In April of 2013, the first trailer for Thor: The Dark World was released.

On July 2, 2013, The Walt Disney Company announced that a deal had been reached with Paramount Pictures that landed the home video rights to 2011’s Thor at Disney. This would end up being a very significant deal years later with the launch of the Disney+ streaming service.

On July 20, 2013, Marvel Studios returned to San Diego Comic Con where in Hall H, Tom Hiddleston appeared on-stage and in-character in a Loki costume to excite the SDCC crowd and reveal new footage from Thor: The Dark World.

Thor: The Dark World featured the debut of a new Marvel Studios logo and signature opening.

Thor: The Dark World was dedicated to writer Don Payne, who passed away on March 26, 2013, from bone cancer.

Thor: The Dark World was the tenth highest-grossing film of 2013, marking the first time that two Marvel Studios films finished within the Top-10 of a given year, as Iron Man 3 was the second highest-grossing movie of the year.

As the Marvel Cinematic Universe evolved over the years, debates over when various events actually occurred began to plague the fandom. Originally, most everyone viewed the MCU Timeline as existing concurrently with our real-life timeline, i.e., Thor: The Dark World was released in 2013, therefore, the events of Thor: The Dark World primarily take place in 2013. These types of discussions provoked Marvel Studios to endorse the release of a book titled Marvel Studios – The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline. This 2023 book confirmed that Loki was immediately taken before Odin to answer for the crimes he carried out in The Avengers at which point he was imprisoned in the Asgardian Dungeons. From there, it was some 15-months that Loki spent imprisoned, completely cut-off from his father and brother while only being able to convene with his mother through her magics. Peace throughout the Nine Realms was reestablished by Thor in the Fall of 2013, shortly after which Jane Foster became infected with the Aether on Earth, prompting Thor to take her to Asgard for treatment and the consequent Dark Elf invasion that resulted in the death of Frigga. The Battle of London and Loki’s seizure of the Asgardian Throne both occurred in late-Fall, just before Christmas on Earth. Marvel Studios’ Iron Man 3 was released in theaters six months before Thor: The Dark World, yet the events of Iron Man 3 (set during Christmastime 2013) occur after the events of Thor: The Dark World upon the Sacred Timeline.

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My Thor: The Dark World Review

Following the Battle of New York, Thor uses the Tesseract to return both Loki and the Cosmic Cube to Asgard to stand trial for his actions on Midgard. Odin has little mercy, punishing Loki with a fate that is for Loki, worse than death: An eternity in solitude, forbidden to interact with anyone, including his beloved mother Frigga. In the meantime, Thor has used the power of the Tesseract to traverse the Nine Realms and restore the order that had been lost following Loki’s rebellion and the destruction of the Bifrost. The power of the Tesseract is also used to restore the Bifrost itself. King Odin is deeply impressed by Thor’s achievements and finds himself once again ready to pass the Asgardian Throne on to his son. Thor wants no part of the Throne however, as he longs to spend his time with his beloved Jane Foster. His heart is on Earth. Soon, the all-seeing Heimdall presents Thor with some troubling news: he can no longer see Jane. A concerned Thor hurries to Earth where he learns that Jane has been infected with a powerful (and deadly for Jane) ancient substance known as the Aether, sacred to the thought-dead Dark Elves of old. Thor whisks Jane from Midgard to Asgard where he takes her to Asgard’s healers. Odin is infuriated by Jane’s presence and chastised Thor for bringing a human into the Realm Eternal, but soon becomes just as troubled as Thor when he realizes it is the Aether that has sickened Jane. Odin knows the Aether to be not only Sacred to the Dark Elves, but as also one if the six Infinity Stones and though he does not want to admit that the Dark Elves (killed-off by his father Bor as legend would have it) yet live, but he knows in his heart that this is likely true, and soon, Odin’s fears are realized when the Dark Elves (led by their King Malekith) invade Asgard. Several Asgardians are killed during the fight that ensues, but none more important than Queen Frigga, who stood against Malekith in defense of Jane. The ever-mischievous Loki had pointed the Dark Elves’ trojan horse Algrim in the direction of Odin, but he instead found Frigga and Jane. Odin and Thor deeply mourn over Frigga’s death along with all of Asgard, but no one mourns her death as deeply as Loki. From there, Odin refuses to allow Jane to leave Asgard as he hopes her presence will lure the Dark Elves back for another round of fighting. Odin is bitter, regretful, and fiercely determined to avenge the loss of his dear wife, while Thor is trying to respond rationally. Thor reluctantly turns to Loki for help in escaping Asgard with Jane. He also enlists the aid of Sif and The Warriors Three. Loki agrees to help. As the plan is set in motion, Odin deems Thor’s efforts as treason, and he orders all of Asgard’s warriors to prevent his sons from leaving, but Thor and Loku make their escape through one of the hidden passageways Loki has utilized in the past. They arrive on Svartalfheim and confront Malekith, making it appear as if Loki has brought the Aether to Malekith. The Dark Elf King bites, and then Thor and Loki team-up, but Malekith manages to obtain and escape with the Aether and Loki is presumably killed. Thor and Jane return to Earth and align with Erik Selvig, Darcy Lewis, and Darcy’s intern Ian in an effort to thwart Malekith’s plan to revert the Universe to a state of darkness upon the celestial event knowns as the Convergence which occurs every 5,000 years and in which the boundaries between Realms temporarily vanish. Thor ends up besting Malekith in the inter-dimensional Battle of London. He then returns to Asgard and meets with Odin, announcing that he is going to follow his heart and deny the Asgardian Throne in exchange for living with Jane on Earth and defending the planet as an Avenger. Odin gives his unspoken blessing, but as Thor leaves, we see that Loki yet lives, having taken on the guise of Odin, seizing the Asgardian Throne. In a mi-credits scene, we see Volstagg and Sif take the Aether to The Collector since Asgard already houses the Tesseract and it is understood that Infinity Stones should not be kept together, as together, they are capable of unimaginable destruction.

If you’ve read my reviews for Thor and The Avengers, you know that I am a huge Loki fan, so of course, I don’t have the same feelings about this movie that seemingly most everyone else does. It has been widely dissed as Marvel Studios’ worst film for several years now by many, many people, but there is a lot I that appreciate about this movie, and yes, most of it does revolve around my favorite character in all of comics: Loki.

I consider Thor, The Avengers, and Thor: The Dark World as sort of a “Loki Trilogy.” I believe those three films work really well when viewed back-to-back-to-back, with the obsessive Loki at long last claiming his long sought-after throne at the end of Thor: The Dark World.

The charisma that radiated from Tom Hiddleston throughout Thor: The Dark World caused him to out-shine everyone else in the movie. He was delightfully wicked as usual, but The Avengers shied away from the emotional depth of the character, which is what made him stick out in the first Thor film, and for all that Thor: The Dark World got wrong, they were right to turn back to that side of Loki and emphasize it! I wanted to see him mouth-off to Odin and taunt Thor as much as anyone, but the single scene that stands out for me in the whole film was the imprisoned Loki’s reaction to learning of his adopted mother Frigga’s death. It was a simple shot, but it was immensely effective and opened the door to a more heroic side of the God of Mischief, which up to that point we’d yet to see in the MCU. Still, even with scenes like the somber conversation he shared with Frigga in his cell and the “I didn’t do it for him” supposed death scene, Tom Hiddleston was clearly having fun with this movie and looking back, I think he might have been the only one that was.

Thor: The Dark World was, as the title suggested, a little dark, a little gloomy, and even I will admit, a little tone deaf. The Avengers was this huge, monumental success, but that film was an adrenaline rush! It was loud! It was exciting! It was fun! For Thor: The Dark World however, everyone just looked sort of … sad. Chris Hemsworth’s Thor was overly somber throughout the film as he worried over Jane Foster’s well-being, and then mourned the death of his mother, and then mourned the supposed death of his adopted brother, all while rebelling against his father. Hemsworth did just fine with what he was given to work with, but he seemed to be almost handcuffed in this film and based on where we’ve seen him take the character in the years since, I believe he was. Beyond that, Anthony Hopkins’ Odin was presented as a cruel father that lacked empathy or grace. The end of the first Thor film gave us a really sweet scene between Thor and Odin in which Thor gushed over Odin’s wisdom and Odin declared how proud he was of his son, but Thor: The Dark World undid all of that. Thor’s continued longing for Jane Foster seemed to churn Odin’s stomach in such a way that he was beginning to resent Thor’s brooding, and Odin seemed cruel and stubborn even before the death of Frigga in this film, notably punishing Loki with a penalty that he knew Loki would deem as being worse than death. Then, Frigga’s death pushed the All-Father over the edge in such a drastic way that he actually locked Asgard down and then, when Thor and Loki attempted to flee with Jane, he ordered they be stopped by “any means necessary.” Not a great look, and once again, we get what seems to be another sweet scene between Thor and Odin at the end of this movie, only for it to be revealed that Loki has actually taken on Odin’s guise and has seized the Asgardian Throne.   

That being said, I had a good time with this film, especially any time Thor’s world was allowed to breathe. Asgard looked even better in this movie than it did in 2011’s Thor and the intended merging of Viking iconography was something that I appreciated. I loved seeing Hugin and Munin with Odin, getting glimpses of the Nine Realms, and seeing Bor in the opening flashback sequence. There really was some stunning imagery throughout this film, none more so perhaps than the entire Frigga funeral sequence. This was a sad, and moving, and quite frankly gorgeous scene that still brings me to tears when I watch it today. On a personal note, my love for the MCU was something I shared with my own Mother. She especially loved the Thor films, and I loved watching MCU movies with her. Ironically, I watched Thor: The Dark World with her at her bedside in the hospital while it aired on television, and it ended up being the last MCU film that we ever watched together as she died mere days later. Of course, that makes the Frigga scene hit even harder these days.

As for the Earth scenes, they were a mixed bag for me. A lot of it was what you’d expect (Jane missed Thor), and some of it wasn’t (Selvig had gone crazy), and then there was Darcy and her intern Ian which was okay except that Kat Dennings was relied on far too much for comedic relief. Meanwhile, any chemistry that existed between Chris Hemsworth’s Thor and Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster in Thor was completely lost in this film. They mostly said all of the right things to each other, but I never really felt it with them like I had previously to such a strong degree with Tony and Pepper and Steve and Peggy. Perhaps some of this was my fault though, as I have to admit, I felt myself as a fan and as a viewer longing for Thor to get together with Sif and for Jane to just go away. Sadly, for all the behind-the-scenes troubles this production experienced the human characters were ultimately what worked the least in Thor: The Dark World and the film would have been much better served spending far more time in Space and far less time on Midgard.

I will also say that I agree with the sentiment that Malekith was a poorly executed villain. He was undeniably bland and boring and seemed sort of just there to give Thor someone to fight. His best scene was the one which he shared with Rene Russo’s Frigga in which he helped murder the Queen of Asgard and got half of his face burned off by Thor as a result. Beyond that however, there wasn’t much to Malekith and Christopher Eccleston’s performance was forgettable at best, if not outright dreadful.

Looking back all these years later, I really can’t imagine the dread that the Marvel Studios team must have felt when they saw the first cut of this movie and ordered extensive re-shoots. If adding more Loki was truly the main purpose of those re-shoots as has been suggested, then that original Thor: The Dark World cut must have been dismal, for if you take Loki out of this movie, I think it would be borderline unwatchable. So, kudos to them for salvaging the film as best they could. But Loki is in this film, and he is in this film a lot, and Tom Hiddleston’s performance and the places the Loki character went in this movie were enough to satisfy me and are the main reasons this is not anywhere near my least favorite MCU film.

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

Highlights of Thor: The Dark World:

Tom Hiddleston is Loki

Loki’s reaction to Frigga’s Death

Thor and Loki Team-Up

Chemistry between Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston

Frigga Funeral Scene

Chris Evans Cameo

Beautiful Asgard

Infinity Stones Confirmed

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

Notable MCU Concepts and Characters Introduced:

The Aether. Malekith. The Dark Elves. The Convergence. Taneleer Tivan / The Collector.