THOR: THE DARK WORLD Cast & Crew Share New Details From Latest Trailer
Check out comments from director Alan Taylor, producer Craig Kyle, stars Tom Hiddleston, Christopher Eccleston, Stellan Skarsgård and more, as they caption shots from the Thor: The Dark World trailer.
Empire notes that this Svartalfheim, home of the Dark Elves, and also The dark world that's referred to in the sequel's title. As Iceland is doubling for the location, director Alan Taylor says, “I was adamant about going to Iceland [where Game Of Thrones’ Beyond The Wall segments are shot] and England to try and create the climate that I wanted the movie to have — this real geography and geology and atmosphere.”
Taylor apparently wants to "humanize" Thor: The Dark World as much as possible, which sort of exemplifies why we'll see Idris Elba's gatekeeper, Heimdall, without his helmet from time to time. “Heimdall has some huge, huge scenes in this one,” says Craig Kyle. “I think anyone who’s a fan of Idris and Heimdall is really going to get an amazing exploration of his character. Everything has been slightly evolved and pushed since the first film — it’s a different time.”
“Everyone of Thor’s buddies take Loki aside and say, ‘When you betray him, I will kill you,’” laughs Alan Taylor. “It becomes a thing, because we all know it’s coming, and Loki kind of enjoys all of that.”
“You think, ‘Well, where next? What’s he going to do?’ What level of remorse does he have?” asks Tom Hiddleston of Loki, whom he says he enjoyed playing this around. “If he does have any remorse or regret: why? Who does he feel guilty in front of, and who does he laugh in the face of? What’s his motivation? If he stands to win, what does he stand to win? So as a character you’ve got all these new motivations, but as an actor I am absolved from playing hero or villain — I’m just a firework, the live wire. And that was more fun than I can possibly tell you.”
“Malekith has gone through changes since we shot,” confirms Taylor. Pictured above is Christopher Eccleston’s Malekith in his full battle-armour and mask. “The huge challenge for me on this was the length of the make-up,” says Eccleston. “I was in the chair for at least six hours, and then it would take about 45 minutes to get me into my costume and get me kitted up.”
“Algrim in a way is the most impressive villain presence in the movie,” says Alan Taylor. “He’s quite something when he turns into Kurse. Adewale [Akinnuoye-Agbaje] spends a lot of time under layers of latex and stuff, and I was so impressed by his performance, he brought so much to it. Sometimes we would do his scenes with a stuntman and the movement just wasn’t the same, and we’d go back and shoot it with Adewale because of all the bodywork he put into it. I think he deserves some attention, although he’ll be buried under prosthetics!”
Pictured above is Stellan Skargard's return as Dr. Erik Selvig. And like Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark in Iron Man 3, Selvig is suffering a sort of post-traumatic stress from the events of The Avengers. “Having a god in your head for a while creates some psychological problems,” Skarsgard says, “and I’m trying to get rid of them. I start this film in a, let’s say, disrupted mode.”
“This is a little Easter egg for folks,” says Craig Kyle. “This is a Stone Man from Saturn. In the very first issue that Thor appeared in, Journey Into Mystery #83, he fought these guys. So we basically brought them back! For the boys who have been reading a long time or know this stuff, it’s icing on the cake.” Kyle also notes that Thor: The Dark World hasn’t lost its sense of humor. “I think we’ve found a really wonderful balance where people will be laughing and enjoying themselves — and then they’ll be worried and rightfully so,” says Kyle. “Tonally, the more humour and fun naturally woven into the script, the more the loss and suffering and sadness and frightening elements just rise.” For the full length breakdown of the recent theatrical trailer for Thor: The Dark World, make the jump over to Empire. What do you think?
Marvel Studios’ “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. Starring 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 & Anthony Hopkins as Odin, “Thor: The Dark World” is directed by Alan Taylor, produced by Kevin Feige, from a story by Don Payne and screenplay by Christopher Yost and Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely and is based on Marvel’s classic Super Hero Thor, who first appeared in the comic book “Journey into Mystery” #83 in August, 1962. “Thor: The Dark World” is presented by Marvel Studios. The executive producers are Louis D’Esposito, Alan Fine, Stan Lee, Victoria Alonso, Craig Kyle and Nigel Gostelow. The film releases November 8, 2013, and is distributed by Walt Disney Studios.