Here are a couple of photos from the London set of Marvel's Thor: The Dark World giving us our first look at the Dark Elves! I love the armor and character designs! You can even get a little look at what's under the masks of the elves in the image below. As you can see half of the face is pale and the other is dark. I believe that is actually Christopher Eccleston as Malekith the Accursed.
Alan Taylor (Games of Thrones) is directing the movie, and it's been great to see his influence in the set photos we've seen from the production. I can't wait to see what it all looks like up on the big screen! What do you think of the design of the Dark Elves?
Here's the synopsis:
Marvel’s “Thor: The Dark World” continues the big-screen adventures of Thor, the Mighty Avenger, as he battles to save Earth and all the Nine Realms from a shadowy enemy that predates the universe itself. In the aftermath of Marvel’s “Thor” and “Marvel’s The Avengers,” Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos…but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all.
It stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Christopher Eccleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano and Jaimie Alexander with Rene Russo and Anthony Hopkins as Odin.
Here's a little information on the Dark Elves:
The Dark Elves are ruled over by Malekith the Accursed, and the most powerful amongst their ranks was Algrim the Strong. However, Algrim was betrayed by Malekith in a bid to kill Thor. Algrim was dropped into lava and though he survived, he was critically wounded. The Beyonder transformed Algrim into the monstrous Kurse, who seemingly kills Malekith for the betrayal. Years later, Malekith reveals that he survived, and he sets forth an ultimately unsuccessful plot for Hercules to kill Alflyse, the Dark Elf Queen of the Eastern Spires.
The trio of Bitterhand, Wormwood, and Grendell serve Malekith loyally and have attempted to destroy Thor on several occasions, including once while Mjolnir was being reforged
Malekith the Accursed is a supervillain in the Marvel Universe. He is ruler of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim, and has come into conflict with Thor. He once wielded the Casket of Ancient Winters.Malekith has all the normal attributes of a member of the race of dark elves, although his abilities are as a result of above average development. He possesses a gifted intellect, and superhuman strength, speed, stamina, durability, agility, and reflexes.
As a dark elf, Malekith also has the ability to manipulate the forces of magic for a variety of effects, including teleportation, energy projection, physical malleability, flight (by transforming into mist) illusion casting, and the ability to change the shape and appearance of other beings or objects.
Malekith has a vulnerability to iron, which disrupts or cancels his magical spells.
The photos come from photographer Paul Hennessy with Splash News.