Is The Beyonder going to join the Marvel movie universe in “Thor: The Dark World” this coming November?
A few hours ago, I got an e-mail pitching me an interview with Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje because he has three movies coming out this year. I don’t need much convincing about him in general. I’ve been a fan since he appeared as the terrifying Adibisi, and I’d like to interview him just to finally ask how the hell he kept that hat on in that series. He was also Mr. Eko in “Lost,” a role that he made seem more significant than it ended up being in the end. He’s a talented guy, and he’s impossible to forget after you’ve seen him work.
So in this e-mail, they went over his roles this year. First, there’s “Bullet In The Head,” the Walter Hill action film that stars Sylvester Stallone. He’s also going to be at Sundance to promote the film “The Inevitable Defeat Of Mister and Pete,” which he stars in with Jennifer Hudson and Jordin Sparks. But in the description of his role in “Thor: The Dark World,” they highlight that he’s playing both “Algrim The Strong” and “Kurse.”
So here’s where my question arises. See, in the comics, Algrim the Strong was an incredibly powerful Dark Elf. Malekith The Accursed enlisted Algrim to help attack Asgard, and in the new film, Christopher Eccleston is playing Malekith. When the fight takes a turn for the worse, Malekith makes a move that is designed to kill Thor but which will require Algrim to die as well. Thor saves himself, but Algrim ends up falling into a volcanic pit. While he was not killed by the incident thanks to magical armor, he comes close to death, and he forgets everything about his identity.
All he knows is that Thor is somehow responsible for his condition, and when The Beyonder heals Algrim, he does more than restore him to who he was. He turns him into something much more powerful, a being called Kurse, and it was the Beyonder who then sent Kurse to Earth so he could destroy Thor. He was eventually redeemed in the comics and ended up as a powerful protector of Asgard.
So if they don’t use The Beyonder, then how are they planning to explain Algrim’s transformation into Kurse? They’re using so many elements from the comics that I’m curious to see if they leave out one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle. In a recent special screening of “The Avengers,” Joss Whedon appeared afterwards to do a Q&A, and he talked a little bit about some of the ideas that didn’t make it into the film.
In particular, Whedon fought to introduce a second villain into the film, someone who the heroes could beat on, someone very powerful. While Whedon lost that fight, he decided not to say which villain it was that he wanted to use because he’s still hoping to re-introduce them. A powerful being who the heroes could all attack at the same time? The Beyonder might well fit that description, and if Whedon’s planning on using the character in “The Avengers 2,” then Marvel might well want to start working the character into the films early.
I don’t know anything for sure, and I’m doing my best not to learn every detail of the “Thor” and “Iron Man” and “Captain America” sequels before they come out. But when they’re sticking so close to the comic shorelines in so many details, I’m curious why they would include a major plot device without tying it to the character who was originally part of it.
I can’t wait to find out what they’ve got in store for us as the year unfolds and Marvel’s Phase Two gets started.
“Thor: The Dark World” arrives in theaters November 8, 2013.