How the MCU Misused Malekith | Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes
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- Опубликовано: 12 июн 2024
- Thor: The Dark World isn't held in very high regard by Marvel fans, or cinephiles more widely. But maybe the bare bones of the story itself aren't the problem? In this video, I take a look at an episode of Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, 'The Casket of Ancient Winters', and break down how it's possible to approach the episode as a parallel, improved version of the 2013 MCU film.
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Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
1:16 The Casket of Ancient Winters
2:35 A Better Malekith? Part 1, A Bigger Threat
5:50 A Better Malekith Part 2, Linguistics
8:51 Language and Othering
11:36 Summing Up
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes is an American superhero animated television series by Marvel Animation in cooperation with Film Roman, based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers. The series initially features a team based on the roster for the original Avengers, composed of Iron Man, Giant-Man, Hulk, Thor, and Wasp. The team is later joined by Captain America, Black Panther, and Hawkeye in the first season, and Ms. Marvel and Vision in the second season. In terms of overall tone and style, the series is based principally on the original stories by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The series also uses material from all eras of the comic's run as well as other sources, such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In the MCU film, Thor: The Dark World, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) sets out on a journey to defeat Malekith, the leader of the Dark Elves when he returns to Asgard to retrieve a dangerous weapon and fulfill his desire of destroying the Nine Realms.
#marvel #thor #avengers 
Развлечения
My rule on making a villain is that if you can’t make their goals understandable/flesh them out as characters, at least go all the way and make them as *entertaining* as possible.
The joker is a perfect example. You know for a fact that he doesn't have goals and he doesn't understand them, and we have no evidence for the reason he is the way he is. He has no sob story or point of sympathy, but people love him because Heath Ledger gives you the performance of a lifetime, literally.
I feel like I've seen these comments on a different video
I can see why MCU made Malekith into a more straight forward generic villain since in comics and adaptations like EMH he is more of a dark sociopath trickster, making him come off as just rip off of Loki. However, him being a trickster could had work in Thor DW to justify why Thor teams up with Loki to defeat Malekith. After all, if Malekith is such as cunning manipulative villain, than who better to defeat him than another tickster villain like Loki?
Apparently they originally had 20 min of backstory of malekith but deleted it for some reason.
The marvel production team wasn’t happy with the director’s cut of the movie so they re edited it and got joss whedon to do it, who focused more on Loki in the movie.
The original director had directed a few episodes of the early seasons of game of thrones.
@@epicmusic9029 lol
The worst crime that Thor: The Dark World had committed was that they had made Malekith and everything related to the Dark Elves *boring*
I wanted to see a Svartalfheim that was like a mix of Grimm’s fairy tales and Vvardenfell, I wanted to see Malekith unleash the Wild Hunt and force Thor wrestle a Bog Tiger. I’d accept bad, but boring is inexcusable.
hell im most made that they made malekith LOOK so boring, like his comic design is so fucking dope and cool to look at but the movie just made him wear generic evil armor, the exact same as all the other elves in the film wear, and they dont even give him his cool half domino face
The funny thing is that Malekith in the comics is pretty much just evil, but the Dark Elves as a whole were sympathetic - Algrim even turns on and kills him, and the elves are relieved because he’s terrifying to them.
The Frost Giants also have the fact that Thor as a child fantasises about killing the evil monsters, which is framed as part of his immaturity and later cruelty. Add Loki’s self-hate to the mix, and…
EMH opened my eyes at how dangerous, and compelling Malekith can be. But it was Jason Aaron's Thor that straight up sealed the deal that Malekith could've been a amazing Avengers villain had they played their cards right. This guy managed to turn the 9 realms into complete chaos, and it took all of Midgard to stop him, and his invading force.
Great video
They should honestly just make an entire MCU Thor trilogy adapting Jason Aaron’s run lmao
The Dark World had plans to flesh out Malekiths backstory, of how he lost his wife and child in a war with Asgard. Unfortunately the studio executives saw how popular Loki was in the MCU and instead diverted that movie runtime to him instead.
So basically Zemo but an elf
Yeah the studio executives do a huge amount of nonsense, the director Alan Taylor had shot some episodes of the first 2 seasons game of thrones and in post production they weren’t happy and got joss whedon to re shoot/edit it.
Also the actor for malekith was Christopher eccleston, one of the doctor who’s.
@austin majors lol
The saddest part is that similar stuff happened for iron man 2, black panther, black widow, Shang chi, hawkeye, dr strange 2 which made them all middle of the road mcu projects.
@austin majors bully zemo
They cared so little about developing Malekith in Thor TDW, that they literally burned the wrong side of his face. That says everything you need to know.
Hahaha I hadn’t noticed but that’s a great point
I don’t usually remember stuff like this but this was the first episode I watched
He was such a disappointment in Thor 2. I feel like they just told him to read his lines and your good. No emotion. It's funny how cartoon counterparts of certain characters are better than others. I know this might be controversial but I like Tony in EMH more than I do Tony in live action. Appreciate the video.
Same
...don’t disrespect Downey -_-
Nah, but really??
Yeah, EMH Tony is just as cocky and arrogant, but has a lot more depth. Even just looking at the episode where Simon is introduced you can see stuff that the MCU never really touches on.
Also, EMH is far better because it’s generally more appealing. Not being dragged out and boring, the episode is colorful, action packed, and quick to the point.
And it's not completely washed out in every scene. Being able to see what's going on makes it much easier to stay interested in it.
You mentioned that terrorism was on the MCU’s mind with Iron Man 3, but I would like to point out that it is so in a very different fashion. In fact, the fashion in which IM3 addresses it is one that, I would argue, is the political and ideological opposite of that of from the Dark World.
*SPOILERS FOR IRON MAN 3. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.*
In Iron Man 3, “the Mandarin” is made out to be an incredibly intimidating terrorist, backed up by the terrorist messages he sends out, one of which honestly sent chills down my spine as I watched it for the first time.
However, we later discover that “the Mandarin” was a fraud, a front for an American company in their attempt to gain power and make money. The Advanced Idea Mechanics creates a terrorist threat to scare America, hide their experiments that went wrong, create demand for their enhanced soldiers, and gain influence over the U.S. Government.
This could easily be seen as an analogy for the Middle East, where American companies wanted oil, so they and the government used the terrorist threat as a pretext to go to the Middle East and gain control of the oil- sorry, “defeat the terrorist threat.”
Whereas the Dark World creates a terrorism analogy with unknowable creatures who must be stopped, Iron Man 3 creates a terrorism analogy about the power of greed, and the dangers of the military-industrial complex and corporate interests commandeering the government.
(Also, quick disclaimer: No, I don’t hate America, no matter what it sounds like in this comment. I am American. I love my country, but we have done some shitty stuff in the past. Acknowledging that is necessary for us to move forward and avoid the mistakes of the past.)
The funniest part is that malekith actually cuts off thors hand in the comics in 2011’s Jane foster Thor storyline while in the 2013 dark world movie they have Loki do a fake illusion of the same.
Malekith in Thor the Dark World: The last leader of a dying race, unjustly killed off by an Imperialist Asgard. Should he succeed, he will bring his people back to life, saving the day from his people's point of view. He's only a villain because the plan to save his species will kill off all others, making an us versus them story
Malekith in EMH: We don't know why the Dark Elves are gone and Malekith is indeed trying to save them, but we can clearly see in his body language, facial expressions, and how he speaks to and treats others that he's only saving them just to rule over them. His plan is not going to destroy the realms but one specific planet in one realm and it was chosen just to spite Thor & Odin.
That's why Malekith is more intriguing on a basic writing standpoint, he *says* that he has a noble goal but we can plainly see that he's malicious in his actions, the simple fact that they add a layer
Actually, we get more information on that in Thor: Tales of Asgard
Didn't they get genocided by the Frost Giants?
@@matthewplays7232 Yeah, we learn that from Algrim in Thor: Tales of Asgard and I think it might have been mentioned a little in “The Casket of Ancient Winters” from AvengersEMH.
For a second I thought this was gonna be about Thor: Tales of Asgard
Not just yet!
That just made me so happy! Thank you for your videos!
I love that you broke down the entire final battle of Dark World to Malekith getting shanked
Well he was in south London, he probably should have seen it coming
Another thing is that Malekith has (even in the comics) never been the most compelling villain, he’s more or less a complete sociopath with dark magic powers. Kurse, or Algrim the Strong on the other hand, IS a character that goes through an arc in the comics, and it’s a shame that we didn’t see it in The Dark World.
MCU Kurse had a near-total lack of characterisation :(
@@PillarofGarbage Comic Kurse: Overcomes his pride and embraces his honor a warrior, can take on Thor even with the Thunder God’s cosmic powers, defeats Malekith and joins the Asgardians in the final battle of Ragnarok
Movie Kurse: Big Monster who knocks away Thor’s hammer attack, kills Frigga cause Malekith told him to, and dies.
Actually, I'd agrue that Malekith is a much compelling villain, especially in the comics just cuz he is a sociopath.
He is kinda like Loki but turned to 11 and has control of a realm.
In the comics, he is terrifying af.
He is complete sociopath and will do anything in his power to cause chaos and get power.
And him being a tyrant to his own people adds a bit more to the mix.
MCU's one on the other hand, is just bland.
I understand why the studios didn't want to characterize him like he was comics because of some of his similarities to Loki.
But honestly, they could have avoided the issue all together, by making the movie itself acknowledge this and use it for creating a meaningful movement between Loki and Thor. And along with it, we would get a terrifying villain. I love symphatic villains and all but you can only see so much of them before you want a villain being evil just for the hell of it.
@@mohithhoney9630 he could have made an excellent foil for Loki, being used to show his less evil side, especially given how the MCU characterised Loki. Use Malekith as a practically two dimensional Loki that already has a throne, an extreme end point by which the audience and Loki can see what happens if he became completely dedicated to his darker desires.
EMH really is nostalgic for me. I grew up with that show and it's good to see how it aged gracefully
I think if they had kept Kenneth Branagh onboard, Malekith and the Dark Elves would have better portrayed. Also If they had kept him on for longer, Thor might not have been re-characterised as 'Hercules in Thor cosplay'.
I never really thought Malekith was a very interesting villain, simply because he's often compared to way bigger/more complex enemies in Thor's rogues gallery, like Loki, Skurge, Amora, etc. Props to you, therefore, for doing all this research into analyzing his character in EMH, and how even the subtlest/most miniscule details make him distinct and somewhat interesting. He never appeared again in this series, if I recall correctly, so the fact that the writers of EMH still put in the effort into fleshing him out even a little bit is admirable.
Also, I just remembered that the episode you mentioned had the Wasp in a beach outfit, and I'm going to be completely honest here: that scene made 12-year-old me act up.
WTH are you on?! Malekith is one of thor's most intimidating, compelling and interesting villains.
He's top 5\top 3 villains with Loki, surtur, amora.
as the dark world's only fan, I have some things to say.
The terrorist allegory is complicated by one exchange between thor and Odin: "How are you different from Malekith?" "Ha ha, The difference my son is that I will win."
That’s a fair point - but I think my issue is that there’s not really anything complicating it beyond that point. The film itself does set up differences between Odín and Malekith beyond this, too - when Odín rules, the rest of the universe can continue living. If Malekith wins, they cannot.
Actually, in a narrative about terrorism, that line fits quite well, if hamfistedly.
It's a valid conclusion to have when observing the hypocrisy of demonizing "terrorists" as "just The Bad Guys". The only difference is that "the good guys" won't ever be saying that outright themselves; kinda like they probably wouldn't have, in a better handled script.
Unless your point is that Thor observing that hypocrisy Does add nuance to the story, and avoids "othering" the antagonist, rather than how it shows Odin to have crucially different motives than 2000s America. I can't tell though, because you never said what your point was. Thanks for giving me something to think about though, that line seemed like it served no purpose in the film until now.
I feel bad for the Dark Elves to a degree at least, and Malekith trying to save them sounds understandable. EMH having him lead the invasion and showing his diverse array of abilities definitely helped him seem like a badass. I like the elf language, but I just with we heard it less and only in mysterious moments, like aliens in dark skies, just a few creepy lines for a second or two, then all english. 👍 loved the MCU elven armor btw.
Malekith is just of one badly used poster children for bad villains in the MCU. Sadly
If they made him more chaotic than stoic, should have been easy. An anarchist
Thank you so much for posting this. I’ve known the episode is better then the movie for years and I’ve tried to express that to others many times. I love that I can now send them your video and have all the facts straight. I saw the show way before the movie and to an extent I was excited for Malkith on the big screen.
For what happened to Malekith before EMH, look up the movie Thor: Tales of Asgard. It shows how he died and is a good early adventure of young Thor and Loki (their first, in fact)
Wait that movie and Emh are connected???
@@vulpescorvum7602 yes. Or you could look up the old Norse myth itself. Your choice.
@@trevynlane8094 interesting 🤔
Malekith is one of my fav villains. It's a shame to see how he was wasted in the mcu. If they ever do war of the realms tho....
Another Video On Why EMH IS Better than The MCU #SaveTheYostVerse
What's interesting is that Thor 3 echoes the themes of the imperialist.. well, empire masking it's faults in haze of gold and glory. This could be a great bridge between the first one touching the subject lightly and Ragnarok's revealing Asgard's bloody history, by showing the Dark Elves as both an reflection (with malekith feeding them ideas that asgard is the monstrous group) and a example (with the Dark Elves themselves not being evil, bur Asgard's indoctrination makinf Thor believe so)
Fun fact:malekith in avengers EMH is voiced by quinton Flynn who voices raiden from metal gear
They did Chris Eccleston so dirty in Thor 2. He could have pulled off the EMH characterisation easily, he's got the range to be serious and unhinged at the same time, he can do chaotic energy, and they did nothing with him.
Hell, even if he didn't have much range, evil 9th Doctor would be way better than what we got.
"Your Armor!......has very little iron in it!" - Malekith to Ironman.
This analysis is one of my favorites.
EMH Malekith >>>>> MCU Malekith. Can U pls talk about EMH Scott Lang better than MCU Scott Lang.
I quite like MCU Scott Lang!
Bold of you to assume I would remember that that was the plot of thor the dark thor
12:28 you might have seen one of my videos. I don’t make any real world analogies in my video but I do present the plot of TDW from Malekith’s perspective
I remember I saw this episode before seeing the Dark World.
I still watch it when its on but it's still the weakest movie imo. Hell I like Iron Man 2 because I can see through it's flaws.
I did like the technology vs magic debate between Tony and Thor about how they are used for either good or evil.
What exactly is wrong with Iron Man 2 tho
@@harrambou9468 People don't like that Tony regresses.
People don't know what Whiplash is supposed to be. They didn't like he acted like a generic villain.
Though it was mishandled by the company since Favrou couldn't do what he wanted.
Their biggest crime was making Christopher Eccelston boring.
Hello Pillar of Garbage great job on comparing or analysis different depictions of Malekith in EMA & MCU. I never thought that MCU making dark elves and Malekith terrorists that so weird but interesting but anyway awesome job on this topic my biggest problem superhero films adapting the villains they always want to get rid their main gimmick or specify role in case for Malekith being an trickster from the comics. That said they had interest new take on Malekith if Loki wasn't in second film i think this MCU version had chance maybe being great.
Does anyone remember a avengers episode or a movie where iron Man design some handcuffs that nobody can escape from including the Hulk and Thor except for odeon and in the episode they fight surtur, does anyone know what series or movie this is from, I'm sure it's avengers earth's mightiest heroes but it doesn't exist so any clothes
If I was doing a Marvel Cinematic Universe Reboot THOR 3 Reboot movie would show the REAL Malekith as the main villain with the tone being very similar to Legend 1985 movie a dark fantasy movie showing Dark Elves and Light Elves with Malekith looking for the Casket of Ancient Winters just like Kurse would look very comic-book accurate.
U see shows like this gives there charachters the charachter and respect they desurve
I don't know if it's canon to emh but there is an animated movie about a young thor and loki and malekiths is in it and I think he is killed by loki.
I agree with everything you said man
EMH Malekith had me so amped for Dark World! Then they cast Eccleston?! Man, what a missed opportunity all around.
"It's time for Malekith... TO LET 'ER RIP!"
Malekith from Thor: Tales of Asgard is more interesting and I believe that movie has interesting story bits.
I love that one!
Wondering if you’re an anime guy? Dunno why just hit my mind. I’m sure there’s some that you’d really love. Feel like attack on Titan could fit your video format. Great video as usual
I have yet to watch a single anime!
Malekith in the MCU was ''dark'' and ''brooding'' which was a misfire. He should have been colorful and flamboyant. This would have made Thor 2 way more entertaining and memorable.
Huh, an ancient elf trying to create a new world for his people through means which will see the destruction of the current...
Two nickels, I guess
i do like emh malekith. and the comic version. the movie version...well...he was atlest in the mcu for a minute.👍
Are you gonna review the badder marvel series or Evan dc shows
Probably, yes! Hoping to put out some Young Justice content fairly soon and another Harley Quinn video or two
We gonna ignore that Thor said that to a man who relies on future tech to stay alive.
Honestly I prefer his comics self when he was handled by Jason Aaron in war of the realms but earth mightiest heros is up there next to him.
I do think that the Dark World is a *bit* better than this analysis makes it sound- I still think the most iconic moment in that film is, after Frigg's death, when Odin is on the warpath, his judgement *clearly* compromised by grief and rage, he outright says that it doesn't matter if what he does is right- so long as Asgard are the ones who are still alive when it's over. A delightful performance by Anthony Hopkins that sells that, even for the Dark Elves' evil, this isn't *right* , isn't *just* , that what Odin is talking about, and what the Asgardians did in the past, amounts to *genocide* .
The script *is* trying to add nuance and make the conflict better, but they do that by making the heroes' side more grey rather than any attempt to lighten or make sympathetic the enemy, and I do think that approach did *fail* the movie on the whole, I'm not saying it lacks the flaws and negative aspects of this video's analysis, quite the contrary, I agree for the most part, but that the script was *trying* to be better than this result. It failed, but there is some attempt in there, which is better than nothing.
Now that I think about it... does anybody know how freezing the world makes Midgard more inhabitable to the elves? I mean, he just freezes everything! I mean was it a multi-step process; first, kill everyone and then rebuild everything from the ground up?
I never was really clear on that myself. I think I kind of half-assumed that it was the saturation of magic (in the form of a magical climate) at least as much as the weather itself that made it possible for the dark elves to begin coming through.
The real problem with Thor 2: The Dark World's version of Malekith is that they cast him before it was Morbin' Time.
do emh black panther video
This show is amazing, and sertenly knows how to do it's villains.
genuinely didn't know he was portrayed by Eccleston, okay then
The MCU Dark elves didn’t seem religious to me, but I also wasn’t really paying that much attention since it wasn’t really doing for me
Poor eccolston, was mistreated by the bbc(why he only has one season) and that.
Malekith fights Thor n chops his left arm off!
N did we see that?
Nope!!
🤔
I agree with the take. I know this isn't related to the main point of the video but, I think Dark World is far better than Love and Thunder.
Lore of How the MCU Misused Malekith | Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Momentum 100
He also had superior personality
He wasnt just dark edgy because im dark elf so im gothic and gloomy he had zeal to his actions and convictions somewhat Jojo dio esk zesty ness to himself
The original script for this film was drastically better.
कुछ समझ नहीं आया
y'know say what you will about how Marvel wasted Christopher Eccleston in this movie, at least he still got to be the villain. not only did DC put Peter Capaldi in a way worse flick, but his character was just a glorified pass key/exposition device that ended up being the movie's one millionth stupidly-gory death.
Analytics.
Just to tell how bad they adapt this character I will say Comic Malekith always have a wicked smile in his face while Film Malekith barely show any emotion
I don’t have much of a problem with Thor 2, but I don’t really like it as much as the rest of the Infinity Saga. Because the only problem I have with the movie is how badly they messed up Malekith. Even Christopher Eccleston himself wasn’t a big fan of the role because of the 6hr makeup and he only did it for the money and the chance to work with Alan Taylor. He is such an amazing actor, but they absolutely wasted his talent. Malekith had no personality in the MCU.
Both Malekiths were terrorists. EMH makes us understand him, MCu makes us want to see him punched.
Yeah, the villain was meh, but personally, I don't think Dark World was that bad. At least Loki and Thor were characterized with respect, because in later movies they became more comedian which I did not like.
I think you confused respect with boring.
I would watch Ragnarok 10 times over the first two movies any of these days.
I mean…sometimes the bad guys…ARE bad guys? Not exactly xenophobic to have the bad guys be alien, especially when that other terrorist-based MCU film you mentioned had a whole “ooo the REAL terrorists are the westerners” twist.
14th
And then you dithered on about “dominant narratives” and other BS…
stop whining, kid.
Misused?
More like abused.
Hey, I like your content, I LOVE Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes, and I'd like to continue watching your content. However, I have a real problem with you injecting politics into your content. We don't see things the same way, and that's fine, but you're going overboard on projecting all of the "xenophobia" in these stories. First of all, no culture not peoples are perfect, and just because we in the West shouldn't project stereotypes on others, it doesn't make it any more right to project those stereotypes on our own nations. In addition, I don't think that most writers have the mental capacity to write that into their stories. I think that the writers of Thor the Dark World were just bad writers and didn't know how to tell a good story. We don't know what was in their empty heads, so let's not act as if we do and condemn them based on 2022 politics and sensibilities. Leave it at, "they told a bad story", everyone understands that. And for the most part, Christopher Yost is better than Kevin Feige and stories from EMH are better than stories from the MCU (with the glaring exception of the Winter Soldier storyline). I do REALLY like your content and LOVE your EMH videos, so please don't push me away by adding politics. I'm so sick of politics that I come on RUclips to get away from it. Thank you.
I’ve always considered politics when making my content, even on EMH. The first video I made on the show discussed Ultron as a metaphor for nuclear weapons and the catastrophic fragility of modern geopolitics. It isn’t going anywhere, and I’m sorry if you think some of my readings are going ‘overboard’, but unless you have a substantial criticism of the points I make and the evidence I use, I’m probably not going to agree with you. If you’ve got a ‘real problem’ with the content I make, then - in the nicest possible way! - this might not be the channel for you, because I’m not going to change it.