‘Thor: The Dark World’ Concept Art Reveals a Much Different Look for Malekith

Charlie Wen, co-head of visual development at Marvel Studios, has shared an early version at what Malekith could have looked like in Thor: The Dark World. Writer/artist Walt Simonson created Malekith the Accursed during his run writing and drawing The Mighty Thor for Marvel Comics. Wen notes that bringing Simonson’s original “over-the-top” design to live-action was a challenge. Wen’s early concept art is more faithful to Simonson’s design than the version that made it into the film.

Wen also implies that the studio had someone else in mind to play Malekith before casting Christopher Eccleston in the role. “One of my Initial rough concept passes of Maliketh for Thor: The Dark World (comicbook origin on right),” Wen writes. “*DESIGN CHALLENGE: the main challenge with this character was how overtly over-the-top his comicbook look was.***BEFORE Chris Eccleston bore the role, another actor almost played this MCU villain…”

Wen doesn’t say who that actor was, leaving Marvel fans to wonder for themselves. You can see Wen’s concept artwork alongside Simonson’s own work below.

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What do you think of this early version of Malekith in Thor: The Dark World? Who do you imagine the other actor Marvel considered to play the role was? Let us know what you think about it in the comments section.

Captain Marvel is now playing in theaters. Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Avengers: Endgame on April 26th, and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th.

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