In April, Charlie Wen, co-head of visual development at Marvel Studios, shared an early version of Malekith in Thor: The Dark World. At the time, Wen hinted that an actor other than Christopher Eccleston, who appeared as the villain the film, had been looked at for the role. Now Wen has revealed more concept artwork that confirms that actor to have been Mads Mikkelsen.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“Mads Mikkelsen as Maliketh [sic] concept art in Thor: The Dark World,” Wen writes on Instagram. “At one point, Mads Mikkelsen was in the running to play the main dark elf villain Maliketh in the second Thor film. Of course, he ended up as another villain in the MCU!”
Wen is referring to Mikkelsen’s role as the villain Kaecilius in Marvel Studios’ 2016 film Doctor Strange. Kaecilius sought to overthrow the Ancient One and her order. Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) defeated him and he became lost in the Dark Dimension.
Walt Simonson created Malekith the Accursed during his run on The Mighty Thor in the 1980s. The war-obsessed sorcerer returned to prominence during Jason Aaron’s run on Thor: God of Thunder that began n 2012. Malekith is, at the moment, the biggest threat to the Marvel Universe and the architect behind the Marvel Comics’ War of the Realms event.
If you’d like to learn more about how to paint like the artists at Marvel Studios, you can check out How to Paint Characters the Marvel Studios Way. The book reveals the process of creating characters for the MCU as told by the artists. Here’s a description from Marvel:
“Within the stunning pages of this keepsake book, readers will learn these artists’ favorite tools of the trade, their tips for visual character development, their process of collaborating with filmmakers and other artists on the team, and the costume and props departmentsโand how it all comes together to create seamless film designs! Each five-ten page ‘character study’ will take readers on a step-by-step journey through the artist’s approach to bringing a specific hero or villain to life. Not only will readers get a sense of how each artist works, from their tools to their process, they’ll also get to see how a character’s design was createdโfrom blank page to a final approval!”
What do you think of Mads Mikkelsen as Malekith in Thor: The Dark World? Who do you think of the concept artwork? Let us know what you think about it in the comments section.
Avengers: Endgame is now playing in theaters. Captain Marvel is also still playing in theaters. Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th.
—–
Have you subscribed to ComicBook Nation, the official Podcast of ComicBook.com yet? Check it out by clicking here or listen below.
In this latest episode, we go all in on the Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer and Disney’s big announcement of movie releases! Is Spider-Man introducing the multiverse? Will Aladdin or Lion King be the live-action remake king this summer? Make sure to subscribe now and never miss an episode!