'Thor 2' Villain Confirmed?

The saga rumbles on following the successful critical and commercial debut for the comic book movie of 2011. Andby the glittering gates of Asgardwhat better way to celebrate than with a supplementary bit of casting news!

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Christopher Eccleston is in final talks with Marvel Studios to play the main antagonist in Thor: The Dark World

. Although plot details are being kept strictly secret at present (hopefully in a more secure location that Odin’s vault, which wasn’t exactly impenetrable, if we remember correctly), this piece of casting news is an indication of what Chris Hemsworth might be battling against in the second movie. Until now we had been speculating about villain castings, and it looks we might have got some confirmation!

British actor Eccleston (, , , ) is said to be assuming the role of Malekith The Accursed in the upcoming movie. Malekith is the leader of the Dark Elves, whose people fell at the hands of the forest giants. He once wielded the Casket of Ancient Winters, releasing a magical frigid force all over the Earth, until he was brought to Asgard as a captive by Thor. We’ll take this as confirmation that the dark elves will feature as the primary villains in Thor 2.

This supervillain is also able to dance between the worlds of the living and the dead, so we’re thinking that this could mean raising an army of the dead on Earth, possibly with Loki on board… Eccleston is no stranger to playing a villain, either (the Brits always make excellent bad guys), so, in our estimation, this is a fantastic bit of casting news.