Who Is Malekith?

- by Steve Garcia, 8 November 2013

The Marvel movies never sleep, regardless if they have to dig deep into the obscure and unknown! As I’m positive that you’re all eager to watch "Thor: The Dark World", you might ask yourself just who the heck he’ll be fighting? No, we’re not talking Loki and his fabulous hair. We’re talking about that other bad guy in this movie! Who is Malekith?!

All images in this article are © Marvel.

In the 1980’s, legendary writer and artist Walt Simonson was taking Marvel by storm by pretty much building upon Thor’s already fantastic world, and truly making the character his own. Among the many, many things he brought into the world of Thor (including that time Thor turned into a frog), he also graced the character with a surplus of new villains, one of them being a dark elf named Malekiththe Accursed. First making his appearance in Thor #344, 1984, there’s a reason why this character’s going to be the big baddie in director Alan Taylor’s Thor: The Dark World.

Malekith as he first appeared. (Click to enlarge)

A being that has always been a thorn in the sides of the Asgardian gods and mortal men, Malekith’s prized weapon was the Casket of Winters. You might remember this weapon in the first Thor film, as it was a powerful little box that was capable of turning whatever it faced into a frozen wasteland, similar to what the Frost Giants thrive in the world of Niffleheim. In order to stop Malekith from doing whatever he wanted with the Casket, a mere mortal man named Eric Willis stole it from him. 

Because Malekith was vulnerable and ill-prepared, he was easily beaten and bruised by Odin, All-Father of the Asgardians and Thor’s daddy. He banished Malekith to another dimension where he remained for centuries… Until Surtur, the fire demon and ruler of Muspelheim, freed him and made him his puppet.

Surtur, who was yet another enemy to the Asgardians and mortal men, ordered Malekith to get the Casket back, as he had big plans to use it on Earth and claim it for his own. Because Odin was not an “OLD MAN AND A FOOL,” (as Thor would put it) he sent his two ravens to spy on the realm of Muspelheim, just to make sure everything was in check. 

Unfortunately for Odin, Surtur caught on, murdered one, and wounded the other. After Malekith’s feeble attempt to keep the injured raven from escaping, Surtur ordered him to form an alliance with Loki to make sure that the Asgardians wouldn’t interfere with his plans. Being the all-knowing trickster he is, however, Loki saw right through Surtur’s intensions to bring Asgard down after his Earth invasion, and quickly stabbed Malekith in the back.

Cartoon Malekith.

Malekith, the way he looks today.

*But don’t take that as an act of 'heroics', folks! Loki’s a bad, bad man who wants nothing but to make Asgard his own. If there’s no Asgard, his entire mission is useless! Back to the story!*

Back on Earth, Eric Willis was alive and well, as the magic from the Casket of Winters practically stopped his aging. Since he couldn’t secure his partnership with Loki, Malekith went ahead with eventually killing Eric on Earth in hopes to please his master and reclaim the award. Unbeknownst to Malekith, however, Eric didn’t have the Casket anymore—his son Roger did. Fed up with constantly failing, Malekith summoned the Wild Hunt, a pack of demonic hounds, to track Willis down and kill him so he can claim his prize. Being that Earth was now in immediate danger, Thor made it a personal mission to stop Malekith from doing harm his beloved planet.

When Malekith found out Thor was on his tracks, he ordered Algrim the Strong, one of his dark elf followers who wore enchanted armor, to intercept the Thunder God so he can get to his adored Casket. To ensure that his mission was going to be a successful one, Malekith attempted to kill both Thor and Algrim by plunging them both into a fiery pit of magma. While Thor escaped, Algrim met his demise and was buried by the heat. 

Thor not only defeated Malekith after that, but he destroyed the Casket of Winters right in front of him. Thor then took Malekith back to Asgard so he can answer to Odin. While Malekith was in Asgardian jail, he shared the dungeon with another prisoner, Kurse. In an attempt to disguise himself and trick the jailer into letting him go, Kurse stopped him and revealed himself to be Algrim. His enchanted armor saved him from death, and, as the story met its fitting end, Kurse gained his revenge and killed him by breaking his neck.

Malekith in "Thor: The Dark World"

But fear not, righteous readers, because death is never permanent in the Marvel Universe, and Malekith is alive and well today. He was recently brought back into the pages of Jason Aaron’s monthly Thor title, Thor: God of Thunder. While he was never a particularly huge villain, he was also featured in an episode of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes which was pretty much a watered down version of his claim-to-fame story. He’ll get his time to really shine in Thor: The Dark World, where he’s played by Chris Eccleston of Doctor Who fame. An interesting character and villain choice to bring into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Malekith’s story is a great one, and now that you know who he is, you can be just that much more excited to see Chris Hemsworth kick his sorry butt in a theater near you!


AND NOW YOU KNOW! Enjoyed the article? Looking forward to seeing Malekith in "The Dark World"? Let us know in the comments section below!

Tagged: comics.

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