Alternate Designs for Malekith in Thor 2

Screen Rant

Thor 2: Alternate Malekith Design Revealed in Honor of Ragnarok

By Tom Chapman

Published Oct 9, 2017

As the release of Thor: Ragnarok approaches, concept artist Andy Park reveals how the villainous Malekith could have looked in Thor: The Dark World.

With only weeks to go until Chris Hemsworth once again wields the mighty Mjölnir in Thor: Ragnarok, fans are given a fresh look at the God of Thunder's previous outing and some original concept art for the villainous Malekith.

Continuing the trend of the MCU's villain problem, Doctor Who alumni Christopher Eccleston stuck on the prosthetics to play Malekith the Accursed in 2013's Thor: The Dark World. While a different design may not have helped the movie's big bad stand out any further from the crowd, there is no denying that the Malekith that Disney settled on was certainly different from his comic book counterpart.

Related: Hela Trailer Showcases Marvel’s First Female Villain

Taking to Instagram, Marvel concept artist Andy Park is celebrating the arrival of Ragnarok and unveiled some of his original designs for the Dark Elf of Svartalfheim, to show comic book lovers what they could've had in Alan Taylor's MCU film:

#ThorRagnarok is about a month away! But let's take a look back at his previous cinematic adventure. I especially enjoyed exploring concept designs for Malekith. Here's one that was very similar to his comic book look. #malekith #thor #villian #darkelf #conceptart #costume #design #digitalart #illustration #그림 #그림스타그램 #marvel #marvelstudios A post shared by Andy Park (@andyparkart) on Oct 4, 2017 at 8:54am PDT

Closeup of another Malekith concept design I painted up on #ThortheDarkWorld #thor #villian #conceptart #costume #design #digitalart #illustration #그림 #그림스타그램 #marvel #marvelstudios A post shared by Andy Park (@andyparkart) on Oct 5, 2017 at 8:59am PDT

In particular, note that the long-haired version of Malekith is much more in keeping with the supervillain that Walt Simonson first introduced in Thor #344 back in 1984. Looking like sort of demented Lucius Malfoy, this was the look that most comic book fans expected Eccleston to appear as in the Thor sequel. As for the second design, notice that Malekith has a much more technologically advanced look, and even bears an uncanny resemblance to other MCU villain Nebula. Ultimately, Taylor went with the masked version that audiences saw on their screens in The Dark World, and who knows whether a simple tweak to the look would've made any difference at all.

Thor: The Dark World, by most accounts, is the dark sheep of the MCU back catalogue. Plagued with problems from day one - including, the departure of Patty Jenkins as the film's original director - it is no surprise that The Dark World is the lowest-rated Marvel movie since the MCU kicked off with Iron Man in 2008. Among the biggest problems were a lackluster plot to release the Aether over the nine realms and many feeling that Eccleston's performance as Malekith didn't hit the spot. With too much of the story taking place on Earth, there was also that lamented final battle where Eccleston's forgettable bad guy was crushed by his own ship. Being one of the few MCU villains to meet their maker after the first outing, it isn't even like the character can be redeemed with another cinematic outing and an outfit change.

Thankfully, it seems that lessons have been learned from The Dark World - and going for a garish neon tone and upping the fun factor for Ragnarok, hopes are high that Taika Waititi can strike the franchise with a bolt of box office lightning. As for Thor: Ragnarok's main villain, at least Waititi is sticking with a more comic book-accurate representation of Hela, Goddess of Death.