Malekith is a name that everyone who has seen Thor: Dark World is extremely familiar with. Although he served as the film’s primary antagonist, he is frequently overlooked and is even regarded as one of the worst villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Because, let us face it, the Malekith movie was really boring and swiftly overtaken. Walt Simonson developed Malekith, who made his debut in Thor #344–349 (June-November 1984).
The movie depiction of Malekith is very dissimilar from the character in the comics. Malekith in the comics was much more strong and vengeful, which the MCU failed to convey. Loki, whose sibling love and concurrent loathing for his brother make a much more engaging plot that captures the audience, overshadows Malekith as Thor’s potentially worst foe.
However, none of this changes the fact that Malekith was designed to be the ideal opposite of Thor and had some skills that were on par with those of the Allfather. So what makes Malekith such a memorable antagonist deserving of praise? Let us begin right now.
Malekith: Origins
Malekith was born in the dark and dreary realm of Svartalfheim to Lady Mazerot of the Black Bile Clan. He had 12 brothers who died in the war against the trolls. Even though his mother had promised he wouldn’t have to fight in the war, Malekith was eventually sold off for the price of 2 sacks of snake livers and half a barrel of pickled toads. As he was dragged away, mockingly, his mother told him that at least he wouldn’t have to fight in the war. Malekith got the job of being a corpse burner, where he burned all the corpses of the dark elves after every battle.
Malekith had murderous intentions right from the beginning, as sometimes he used even to burn soldiers who were still alive so that he could get more food in his stomach. Eventually, he gets kidnapped by the trolls and ends up locked in with another dark elf who asks Malekith if he would wrestle with a millipede so he could roast it over the fire and gain some strength to perform a magic trick.
This dark elf turns out to be a powerful wizard who is renowned. Soon the war against the trolls gave way to the war against the light elves, border skirmishes with dwarves, and terrorist attacks on Gods. All these years, Malekith served as an apprentice to the wizard as he learned the art of sorcery.
Soon enough, Malekith is grown up, and his master praises him for his skills and tells him that he had surpassed the wizard long ago and was a natural at sorcery with immense raw talent. He then tells Malekith that it is time to end the war, and he is the one who should be at the forefront of the movement to end the war in their realm so that it does not perish. To the wizard’s utter astonishment, Malekith refuses the idea and attacks him.
According to Malekith, stopping the war would mean admitting that he’s weak, and there was no way he would let that happen. Malekith realizes that war is the fire that forges the elves’ hearts, and as long as he is alive, there will always be war, as he doesn’t know what he would be without it. This shows that Malekith was a creature of chaos; he strived for violence and killing without no remorse.
Just before the wizard breathes his last breath, he attacks Malekith’s face with a spell. Soon after, Malekith returns to his hometown and visits his mother. She does not recognize him at first and thinks of him as a lord who came to buy her hunting dogs. As soon as she sees his face, she instantly recognizes him and asks him what happened to his face.
Malekith patronizes his mother about the 2 sacks of snake liver and half a barrel of pickled toad not being enough, as she tries to make him understand that she needs it to feed the dogs. Malekith accepts that since they are the Lords of the Wild Hunt, of course, providing the dogs is the most important thing, as he controls the dogs to attack and kill his mother, revealing his two-toned face. Thus, Malekith the Accursed came into the origin, and soon became the king of the dark elves and one of the most influential and dangerous characters of the Thor Universe.
Darkest Story, Malekith from Thor: The Dark World
Christopher Eccleston plays the role of the dark elf in the MCU movie Thor: The Dark World. The movie starts with Malekith locked in battle with Bor, King of Asgard and Odin’s father. Malekith prepares to launch the Aether, a weapon of mass destruction that converts all matter to dark matter. It is Malekith’s ambition to turn the world to darkness and establish the supremacy of the Dark Elves once again.
As the Convergence, which is the alignment of the Nine Realms, approaches, Bor foils Malekith’s plan as he defeats the Dark Elves and gains possession of the Aether using Bifrost. But unknown to Bor and the Asgardian troops, Malekith and a few of his soldiers, known as the Kursed, escape on their ship, where they are suspended in limbo.
In the present day, Malekith and his forces are awakened when Jane Foster becomes host to the Aether, and the Convergence approaches yet again. Having tracked the Aether’s location and determined to fulfill his mission this time, Malekith prepares an attack on Asgard to gain possession of the Aether. His Kursed soon attacks Asgard after sneaking in as ordinary prisoners.
Despite attempts of Asgardian soldiers and Heimdall himself to stop their spaceships from reaching the palace, Malekith manages to destroy their defenses and reaches the courtroom, where he destroys Odin’s throne. He finally comes across Jane and Frigga, Thor’s mother, who was protecting Jane as they hid away. The two ensue in a battle where Frigga clearly has the upper hand, something entirely in contrast to the comics because Malekith was much more powerful, even though Frigga is no less. He almost dies at the hands of Frigga, but one of the Kursed arrives and rescues him.
As he approaches Jane to extract the Aether from her, he realizes the moment he touches her that she is just a projection, and the real Jane is not there. Obviously, Frigga refuses to disclose Jane’s location, so he has her killed. This is the moment Thor arrives and strikes Malekith with lightning that hits his face, resulting in his close resemblance to the comic version of having a two-toned look.
Before Thor can kill him, Malekith and his Kursed make their escape. Betraying Odin’s orders, Thor escapes with Jane with Loki’s help, and the trio travels to the Dark World using a secret pathway, where they come across Malekith, who has already sensed the Aether’s presence. Thor and Loki stage a fight amongst themselves, and Loki sacrifices Jane to Malekith as to manipulate him into extracting the Aether.
As soon as the Aether is removed, Thor attempts to destroy it but is unsuccessful. Malekith absorbs the Aether into himself and becomes stronger. Even though Thor and Loki try to stop him, they are left battling with the Kursed as Malekith escapes.
Malekith arrives in Greenwich to fire the Aether as the Nine Realms converge together. Thor comes to stop Malekith, along with his mortal comrades Jane, Darcy, Ian, and Erik Selvig. Thor engages Malekith in battle but is clearly overpowered as they battle across realms due to the various portals constructed due to the Convergence, but one portal separates them. As the Nine Realms align, Malekith manages to unleash the Aether. Thor arrives in time to stop him, and with the help of their scientific equipment, they teleport Malekith back to Svartalfheim, and he perishes from being crushed under his own ship.
Why MCU’s Malekith was made different from Comic Malekith
MCU lost an excellent opportunity to give Malekith a special live-action appearance worthy of his character. He was changed beyond recognition due to his similarities with Loki. Thor: The Dark World has not been a fan favorite for various reasons, but one of the main reasons was the Malekith. His comic version is far different, but Marvel Studios believed that accuracy would confuse the audience.
Malekith’s ambitions in the movie, his appearance, and his lack of powers were all considered bland by fans. Comic Malekith is known for his unique for his appearance and strength, much of which were changed in the movie. His iconic half blue and half black face, which was a feature from his childhood, was altered, and only a slight resemblance was shown in the film. Much of the powers exhibited in the movie that he inherited after possessing the Aether were already in possession of Comic Malekith.
Marvel Studios changed Malekith’s skin color as Loki was half-Frost Giant and had naturally blue skin in the movie. They thought audiences might mistake Malekith for a Frost Giant instead of his actual nature of a Dark Elf. Malekith’s backstory of a tragic childhood and family abandonment is quite similar to Loki’s as well. Even though it would have been a delight if his story could have been explored on the big screen, it, unfortunately, did not come to light. Malekith truly missed out on a chance to be one of the best MCU villains, much to fans’ disappointment.
What makes Malekith such a powerful individual?
Malekith is an extremely powerful sorcerer, but he also possesses many superhuman abilities, many of which are attributes of his race like superhuman strength; he can easily lift up to 10 tons and more. He also possesses superhuman speed, stamina, and reflexes.
He has an extended lifespan and ages at a very slow rate. Even though his body is highly durable, it is possible to injure him, although he has excellent regenerative powers and heals very quickly. Malekith can use his sorcery powers and manipulate energy for various destructive purposes.
He can use magic manipulation to enhance his physical abilities even further. He is also exceptionally skilled in hand-to-hand combat, although his usual fighting style involves sorcery and spell casting. It is believed that even though he is known to be dead, it is possible he used his healing abilities and appeared to be quiet and might possibly still be alive.
Malekith often uses the Hunting Horn of Faerie to summon the Wild Hunt when he wants to track somebody.
Malekith’s attractive appearance in The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes
Malekith makes an appearance in The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes episode titled “The Casket of Ancient Winters” and is voiced by Quinto Flynn. After being resurrected by Loki and forming an alliance, Malekith tracks down and obtains the Casket of Ancient Winters.
He ends up betraying Loki and opens the casket to unleash its powers. Meanwhile, in America, The Avengers try to figure out the source of this freezing weather as ice monsters appear in the city and terrorize the citizens. As the rest of the Avengers fight the monsters in the city, Thor, Iron Man, and Black Panther track down the source location of Norway. They come face to face with Malekith in his two-toned face, long white hair glory. The heroes then engage him in battle, although he seems to have the upper hand.
As Malekith almost releases the casket’s power to full potential in order to resurrect his fellow dead elves, Black Panther tells them that in Wakanda, technology, and magic often work together to achieve things otherwise impossible. Iron Man and Thor then work together to defeat Malekith, as Iron Man’s suit weakens Malekith due to iron being a significant weakness of dark elves. Thor then strikes them with lighting as he wields Mjolnir. This combined effort results in Malekith losing all his powers and perishing again as The Avengers save the day yet again.
Although the MCU could not give justice to Malekith’s character, he does remain one of the most potent adversaries that Thor ever faced. He was mighty and caused quite a few massacres. There remains much to be explored with his character as he was also an important figure during the War of the Realms arc. We can surely hope for his character’s revival and a second chance for him to establish himself as a true MCU villain.