Very well, I accept your surrender

Thor: The Dark World is not high up on the MCU. It’s an okay movie that had an outsized role in Endgame. It was the beginning of when Thor lost everything, it starts with his mother. Now in Endgame, he was able to have the pleasant conversation he never had with her in order to straighten out his life and gain perspective on what a hero truly is. This movie somewhat began the MCU rule of killing your main villain by the end of the movie, resulting in forgettable villains done by great actors. The upside of Dark World is that Hemsworth is at his zenith as Thor. He’s already had his first starring movie and then featured in Avengers. He had the voice down, the character is more mature than in the first movie and he’s got the hammer actions down to a science. Tom Hiddleston also comes into his own in this movie with a legion of fangirls and a possible road to redemption (which he kinda goes down but kinda not).

 

• Speaking of incredible actors in the MCU, the two main Dark Elves leaders definitely count up there. The first is Malekith, the main leader of the cult-like group (cuz that’s what the Dark Elves remind me of; with an unwavering dedication to their leader and absolute assurance in their destiny to bring darkness back to the world – essentially destroying it). He’s played by Christopher Eccleston who played The Doctor in Doctor Who when it first came back in 2005 in his 9th incarnation. He’s also awesome and chews the scenery with his unique accent in Gone in 60 Seconds
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
• Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is Algrim\Kurse in the movie. He’s great as Mr. Eko in Lost (my favorite show of all time)
  
  
  
  
  
• Bor really does exist in Norse Mythology as the father of the main Asgardian gods, especially Odin. Besides the creation myth, he doesn’t seem to be featured very much. In this movie, he’s played by Tony Curran. This guy is everywhere in the sci-fi\supernatural genre. My favorite roles of his include: The Invisible Man from the underrated League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Priest from Blade II and Marcus from Underworld Evolution. He also played a bad guy in the Daredevil series
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I really like the Dark Elves’ masks. With the amount of Elves they had in London, some civilians should have picked up the masks from the dead bodies and started some kind of religion or terrorist group with them
  
  
  
  
  
• Both Marvel and Kevin Feige like to play with existing Norse Mythology to fit their storyline. Black Elves in Norse Mythology came from Svartalfheim but the movie specifically refers to the bad guys as Dark Elves. Black Elves were allies of Loki, they made Sif’s new hair after Loki cut it off in Norse Mythology (as explained in the Loki TV series)
  
  
• The Dark Elves are described in 13th century poems as living underground and being “blacker than pitch.”
  
  
• The Dark Elves are defeated by the Asgardian forces, despite them having these special stones where certain Elves crush them and they turn into a Hulk-like being called The Kursed. Bor is able to capture the Aether and deny them the Convergence’s power. Malekith sacrifices his men and escapes. The Asgardians hide the Infinity Stone where no man will ever get to it (for at least 5,000 years) and the remaining Elves go into a kind of cryogenic hybernation
  
  
• Now they explain the crux of the story: The Dark Elves want to bring darkness back to the universe, essentially destroying it. They will attempt to do this during the Convergence, when all the planets align and the borders between worlds weakens. Malekith has the Aether, an angry sludge. In reality, it’s an Infinity Stone, the Reality Stone. It possesses the user and will let him reshape reality. In the next few years, Thanos will be able to use the Reality Stone in a glove and totally reshape the base called Nowhere
  
  
  
  
  
• In our world, the closest we’ll get to the Convergence is called Planetary Alignment or Conjunction. It’s super-sciency
  
  
• Loki, fresh from his disaster on Earth in The Avengers is taken in chains before Odin and Frigga. He is to be put in a cell beneath the palace, never to be talked to again (an order that Frigga ignores). We later see that Frigga can also cast illusions, so Loki learned it from her (Thor was apparently never taught that trick, he was simply a lunkhead warrior with a hammer)
  
  
  
  
  
• Vanaheim: Thanks to the destruction of the Bifrost (which is now rebuilt), the 9 Realms went into chaos and some bad guys rebelled. Vanaheim is another realm in Norse Mythology and is home to the Vanir, all about nature and peace (which sounds very Lord of the Rings). Thor, the Warriors Three and Lady Sif really enjoy battle as Viking Gods are apt to do. Thor’s throwing Mjolnir all over the place, taking down bad guys. There is one final big guy to take down, he’s a Kronan, like Korg from later movies. This means he’s made of rocks and Thor takes him down with his hammer. He doesn’t have a name but it sounds like the bad guys are chanting “Gormley!” They all surrender
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I’ll also point out there is a new actor playing Fandral, Zachary Levi who will later go on as DC’s Shazam
  
  
  
  
  
• Our Asgardians party but Thor wants none of it, he’s melancholy and misses Jane Foster on Earth. Sif has a massive crush on Thor and even Odin wants Thor to end up with Sif and not the mortal Jane. The two of them reminisce about the Battle of Harokin. She liked celebrating their victory so much she almost started the second one. And, according to Endgame, Thor took an axe to the face. Volstagg also continues the tradition of smashing a cup to indicate you like that drink: “Another!”
  
  
  
  
  
• London, England. Jane Foster and Darcy are in London at her mom’s flat, summoned by Eric Selvig to look at some scientific data. She’s on a date with Irish comedian Chris O’Dowd. He was in the British TV show The IT crowd and in the movie Bridesmaids. She’s pretty much ignoring him until Darcy comes up and interrupts them. It’s a bad date, super awkward with lots of “seabass.” Darcy isn’t a world-renowned astrophysicist yet (I think her main educational journey happens after The Blip)
  
  
  
  
  
• Both Jane and Darcy consult a Phase Meter: Here's one example
  
  
• Here's the other
  
  
• And another!
  
  
• The readings it’s receiving are similar to the ones they had in New Mexico where they first encountered the 9 Realms and Asgard
  
  
• Darcy is totally getting driving in London. She also has her own intern, Ian. He seems to know about astrophysics and Jane’s work
  
  
  
  
  
• They pass a poster on a building that says “Is Your Journey Really Necessary?” Why it’s there, I don’t know but it’s a WWII British propaganda poster and in modern times, a critique on modern life
  
  
  
  
  
• Jane Foster has three degrees and can’t change her cellphone’s (or Mobile’s) ringtone. It’s “We Cakin’ Up” by Xzibit, released a few years earlier in 2011. She later hears this ringtone on another planet, so it does play a role in the story
  
  
  
  
• They pass by The Anthologist, a real-life restaurant in London
  
  
• We then see a news report on Eric Selvig. Why they put it in in this place I don’t know; they play it again once Darcy and Ian are paying attention to the TV. Nobody’s watching the report; it’s just there for some exposition on the state of Eric. The report shows Eric naked, running through Stonehenge with scientific equipment and acting insane. The report does mention he worked with the Avengers in New York during the alien invasion. ITV News is a news station in England, broadcasting about the UK and international events.
  
  
  
  
  
• Jane, Darcy and Ian arrive at the site of the disturbances, some kind of dockyard with freighter cars. They’re there with a bunch of kids who are dressed too nice and clean and have posh accents to be London street kids. The one kid lifts a cement mixer that says “Norman Emerson and Sons LTD” and flips and spins it, like there’s no gravity in that one spot. There is a Norman Emerson and Sons company out of Northern Ireland
  
  
• The kids also introduce them to a spot on the stairs where a beer bottle can be dropped, then it disappears and reappears above them in a cycle. Shoes seem to be their preferred experiment. Ian drops his car keys (with a mini Rubik’s Cube on it) and it never reappears (until later when our heroes really need them)
  
  
  
  
  
• Jane also disappears, traveling to where the Asgardians hid the Aether and it goes into her, making her its newest host body. She temporarily disappears from Heimdall’s view, who lets Thor know. It’s her first foray (but not last) into becoming a cosmic being. The Aether shows her things, what it wants, what Malekith will do. Apparently the Infinity Stones like to talk to mortals, telling them what to do and what they want
  
  
•  Thor returns to Earth to help Jane (who disappeared for 5 hours). Our mortals are about to be arrested for trespassing but are intimidated by Thor. One officer tries to arrest Jane but the Aether defends itself and thrusts all of them backwards.One bobby calls for an armed response team since they don’t carry guns themselves and only have tasers and nightsticks. Thor takes Jane to Asgard via Bifrost
  
  
• Jane is examined by the same actress who played the Borg Queen, Alice Krige. Jane recognizes the medical examining table as a Quantum Field Generator but the Borg Queen calls it a Soul Forge. It’s a device that transfers molecular energy from one place to another.
  
  
  
  
  
• Quantum Field Generator
  
  
• The Aether is an Infinity Stone and has too much power for a mortal to possess, she is going to die unless it’s sucked out of her (something that Rocket later does with no problem in Endgame). How come Odin or his medical Borg Queen know about this kind of device – would have saved a lot of time and Asgardians
  
  
• Odin, arrogant and demeaning as ever, equates Jane to a goat. Until he sees the power of the Aether for himself and shows the two a Harry Potter-esque animated book about the Dark Elf war with his father Bor. After Ragnarok, we find out Odin had a similar conquest plan as his father. The Asgardian nursery rhyme “Born of Eternal Night, Black Elves come to steal the light” is strictly from the movie’s script
  
  
• Malkeith and Algrim come up with a plan to attack Asgard and get the Aether. It involves Algrim getting stabbed, having a Kursed rock placed inside him, then turning into Kurse and causing havoc, thereby allowing Dark Elf ships to arrive and attack. We next see Kurse (really his new name) with a funky helmet, getting taken to Asgard with other prisoners
  
  
  
  
  
• Jane meets Frigga, Thor’s mom and has a much better conversation than with Odin
  
  
  
  
  
• JAIL BREAK! Thor rushes off to help the Warriors 2 (Hogun stayed behind on his home-world to clean up) and leaves Jane in the protection of his mother. It’s obvious that the interaction between Frigga and Odin is genuine, that they truly love each other. Acting by Renee Russo and Sir Anthony Hopkins
  
  
• Here’s the big part: While Kurse frees the other prisoners to cause chaos, he doesn’t free Loki. However, Loki tells him to take a left at the stairs to find what he’s looking for. However, Loki doesn’t know a) that his mother Frigga is with Jane who b) has the Aether, also something Loki doesn't know anything about since he’s in jail. We plainly see Kurse go right after the stairs, leading him to Frigga’s chambers
  
  
  
  
  
• There's a great scene where Loki is in his cell, flipping his cup and up and down. In the original version, there's nobody behind him. But in Endgame, the Russo Brothers inserted Thor and Rocket. Very nice
  
   
  
  
  
• Meanwhile, the Dark Elves attack Asgard. Due to their ship’s cloaking capabilities, Heimdall barely senses their first ship, destroying it. But many more cloaked ships follow after it. The ships crashing into the Asgardian palace reminds me of the CGI in the Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic video game, their sequences are almost identical
  
  
  
  
• Another cool weapon the Dark Elves have is this grenade-type thing that sucks everything up in a mini-black hole and obliterates everything, including Odin’s throne
  
  
•  Frigga is a capable warrior, causing a scar on Malekith’s face with her sword. He finds out that Jane being there is just an illusion and calls Frigga “Witch!” Something we find out in Endgame (again) is that Frigga was raised by witches and sees things others cannot. Kurse stabs Frigga, killing her. Thor enters at this moment and unleashes lighting, scarring and injuring Malekith before the two elves retreat. Jane is unharmed but Frigga is dead. Loki is also notified and destroys his furniture with a bit of his magic.
  
  
  
  
  
• Before all this happens is when future Dude Thor wants to talk to his mother and get his mojo back in Endgame
  
  
  
  
  
• We get a viking funeral, Asgard style for Frigga and the many who are dead. Odin is grieving and full of hatred for the Dark Elves, blinding his better judgement. Queen Ramonda did the same thing in Wakanda Forever, depriving both their kingdoms a sound battle plan and capable warriors, all because she's grieving and depressed
  
  
  
  
  
• Eric Selvig is in a mental hospital in London with Stan Lee. He uses shoes to demonstrate the Convergence. He lectures to mental patients like he’s teaching class. His blackboard has some interesting info on it. Soon, Ian and Darcy see the news report and get Eric out of the hospital. Ian mentions a “murmuration of starlings” with a Convergence twist
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Thor is forbidden by Odin from taking Jane to Svartelheim and tricking the Dark Elves. He knows it’s the right thing to do, Odin is grieving and irrational. He recruits his friends into helping him and gets Loki out of jail. Sif has been side-eying Jane with jealousy the entire time but still helps her escape her room. Loki has been putting up an illusion to show that he’s okay and in good shape. When he drops the illusion, his clothes are rumpled, his feet are bloody, hair all greasy and furniture broken. I would imagine he also feels guilt for guiding Kurse since he doesn’t know what direction the monster went, it still ends with him helping the enemy and getting his mother killed
  
  
• Another great Heimdall bit is that Sir Idris Elba takes off his helmet. In the first Thor, it almost looked like it was part of his head
  
  
  
  
  
• Thor gets Loki out of his cell and goes to the rendezvous point at the abandoned Dark Elf ship in the palace. At one point, Loki turns into Captain America (something he also does in Endgame as a joke) and it’s Chris Evans having a great time impersonating Loki impersonating him. Funniest line ever: “Oh, this is much better. Costume's a bit much... so tight. But the confidence, I can feel the righteousness surging. Hey, you wanna have a rousing discussion about truth, honor, patriotism? God bless America..."  All Thor’s friends tell Loki not to betray Thor - later he tells Thor to trust his rage against the Dark Elves for killing their mother
  
  
  
  
  
• Loki, Jane and Thor escape Asgard through one of Loki’s many hidden escape routes out of Asgard with a “ta-da!” and lands in Svartelheim to meet up with the Dark Elves
  
  
• We don’t know it yet, but Loki pretends to betray Thor by cutting off his hand (another Phase II \ Empire Strikes Back moment) and giving Jane over to Malekith. Their ruse works, the Aether is sucked out of Jane into Malekith and there’s a big battle. Malekith is now immensely powerful and is literally dark and evil, like a shadow permanently over his entire body. Thor is unable to destroy the Aether with his lighting and the Elves escape. They leave Kurse behind to battle Thor. Loki helps his brother by stabbing Kurse but Kurse impales Loki on the same blade. Loki is able to kill the monster with one of the black hole grenades and Kurse is no more
  
  
  
  
  
• Loki apparently dies. The whole dying\speech is heroically reenacted by Matt Damon in Ragnarok. We know that Loki isn’t really dead a few scenes later when his “power signature” is seen around an Asgardian soldier on Svartelheim. His own father didn’t recognize the illusion when told his son Loki was dead. I'll probably repeat this in my Ragnarok review, but Damon played another Loki in Dogma
  
  
  
  
  
• Thinking they’re trapped on Svartelheim, Jane and Thor go into a cave when Jane gets a call from Chris O’Dowd, and she knows this is where the objects went when they were at the docks. She finds Ian’s keys with the Rubik's Cube and Thor and Jane are back on Earth
  
  
• They drive to her flat and come up with a game plan with a pantsless Eric Selvig. He previously stated the reason he went crazy is because he had a God (Loki) in his brain. By the time we see Eric again in another movie, the craziness and idiosyncrasies are gone. One great bit is that Thor hangs Mjolnir on a hook like you would a jacket
  
  
• Eric is able to figure out where the Elves would attack on Earth by connecting all the major ancient creations on a map – Stonehenge (megalithic stone construction in England), Snowdon (the highest mountain in Wales)  and the Great Orme (a limestone point that juts out into the sea in Wales). I guess these are all considered by Eric to be created due to the Convergence 5,000 years ago, mystical and astronomical creations. The intersecting lines on the map point to Greenwich, England. In particular, the University of Greenwich. Our protagonists walk all over campus and through the library
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Luckily, Eric Selvig invented Gravimetric spikes to help counteract the effects of the Convergence, although Jane also uses them as weapons to direct the effects of the Convergence where she wants. They appear to be homemade and have a custom OS and control Ipod thingee
  
  
• This term also refers to an entirely different aspect of chemical sciences. I don’t think there’s any such device, Selvig may have just created them in his madness in response to the Convergence (and since he had Loki in his brain, maybe that’s a little responsible for their creation and the fact they actually worked.
  
  
• The battle between Thor and Malekith takes place over different locations on Earth, Svartelheim and Joutenheim. A Frost Beast from the first Thor movie is transported to Earth and ends up eating a few Dark Elves. More on him in a bit. The Gherkin (or St. Mary Axe Tower) plays a big role visually in the movie (initially, it’s how you know we’re in England) and becomes a big part in the battle; Thor and Malekith are thrown all over its windows. Humorously, Mjolnir goes all over the world trying to locate Thor since he’s being thrown all over the universe because of the Convergence
  
  
  
  
  
• Another great part of the battle is The Royal Air Force sends a few Eurofighter Typhoons to destroy the alien spacecraft but they end up getting getting sucked in Vanaheim and bombing the forest line
  
  
  
  
  
• Ian has his hero moment when he crushes a Dark Elf with a car and zero gravity. At first I thought it was a Mini Cooper but it didn’t look like one crushed and upside down. Darcy was so impressed with his heroism that she ended up kissing him in an inverted WWII-kinda way. Mjolnir comes racing by and Darcy exclaims “Mew Mew!”
  
  
  
  
  
• In one of the many border-planet-crossings that Thor has, one dumps him at Charing Cross, which is at the Strand. He gets on the Tube (railway station) and is told that Greenwich is 3 stops away. I know nothing about the London Underground, only that Google tells me it takes about 15-20 minutes to get there and is relatively simple. This London site says it takes about 14 stops and Reddit says this
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
•  Jane and Eric use the gravimetric spikes to cause chaos among the Elves. Malekith loses an arm as well when Thor uses the spikes and Mjolnir to attack him (Empire again!!). The battle lost, Malekith disappears in another portal and his ship begins to collapse. Jane tries to cover Thor’s unconscious body with her own and Erik makes the ship disappear with the gravitational tech. It appears on Svartelheim where Malekith’s barely alive and armless form is and crushes him
  
  
•  We’re back at Jane’s flat in London (you can see The Gherkin from her window) with everybody eating breakfast and waiting for Thor to return. Thor is in Asgard, talking to Odin. Odin gives a good fatherly speech and Thor says he cannot become King of Asgard and wants to protect the 9 Realms. Odin gives his okay and says he’s proud of his son (unofficially, of course). He essentially says everything Thor needs to hear in order to leave Asgard. We find out after Thor leaves that ODIN IS ACTUALLY LOKI. At some point, Loki sent Odin to Earth (probably using a Convergence portal since it was so soon after the last battle) without memory or any idea who he was. Loki is now king of Asgard as opposed to Thor. We later find he kind of messes that up too. I think the only reason that Thor and his friends are dead or in prison over treason is because Loki is looking after them as King. Forgiving them wasn’t even in the scene
  
  
  
  
  
• Post Credit Scene #1: The Collector with his ridiculous bow and mannerisms, takes possession of the Aether so it can remain safe away from the Tesseract. His pink companion (who later gets killed touching an Infinity Stone herself) is British actress Ophelia Lovibond - a great name for a British actress. I know her from her role in Elementary as Sherlock Holmes’ detective protege
  
  
  
  
  
• Post Credit Scene #2: Thor appears in Jane’s flat via The Bifrost and they kiss, a relationship begins (filled in during Love & Thunder). Behind the scenes, Natalie Portman wasn’t available for filming the scene so Chris Hemsworth got his wife, Brazilian model and Fast & Furious actress Elsa Patacky to fill in. In one of my favorite scenes to ponder on, we see a Frost Beast chasing birds in the London Docks, destroying shipping containers. I think it’s resolved in Secret Invasion, but I choose to believe this monster is still roaming England some 10 years later. A great potential storyline forgotten
  
   

   

  
  
  
  
• Jane Foster: Becomes world famous with her book The Foster Theory and its multiple editions (kinda like Stephen Hawking’s Brief History of Time. She dates Thor for a time until they break up (yet another reason for Fat Thor) and she eventually develops cancer. I wonder if her time with an Infinity Stone may have caused this years later. She reunites with a broken Mjolnir and it turns her into the Mighty Thor until her death and entrance to Valhalla
  
  
  
  
  
• Agents of SHIELD episode “The Well.” The Agents, including Phil Coulson and Melinda May clean up Greenwich University after a big battle with Thor and the Dark Elves. They’re looking for dangerous alien technology. HYDRA Turncoat Agent Grant Ward is faking being friendly with FitzSimmons. They get a call about mysterious activity in Norway and a mystery involving an Asgardian Berserker staff. They also meet Asgardian Elliot Randolph, in disguise on Earth for centuries. He’s played by Numb3rs (another favorite show) actor Peter MacNickol
  
  

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