Chris Hemsworth is certainly going to have his hands full this November in Thor: The Dark World, with the God of Thunder going up against his evil stepbrother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), along with two new villains in Christopher Eccleston’s (Doctor Who, G.I Joe: Retaliation) Malekith the Accursed and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje’s (Lost, G.I. Joe: Retaliation) dual bad guy Algrim the Strong / Kurse. Speaking to MTV at the Golden Globes this past weekend, Akinnuoye-Agbaje took a moment to discuss the role, telling us what to expect from his character in the Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones) directed sequel:
“I’ve been a fan of the Marvel Comics and I got a massive opportunity to play two characters in the movie: Algrim and Kurse. You go in thinking, ‘Yeah this is great.’ But when you get in there, you’re like whoa; six hours of makeup, prosthetics, all the physical [stuff]. But honestly, I loved it. It’s going to be such an epic. And both of the characters; I have blonde hair, blue eyes, pointed ears, fangs, horns; everything you could want as boy in an action hero movie. It’s amazing. The fighting was really demanding. For instance, Kurse is the one that does all the fighting. It’s forty pounds of extra weight and the good thing about it is that it’s very flexible and elastic. I have a routine before I put it on: I stretch and do all my pilates. You see this big creature doing pilates, it’s great. And then we’d have to go fight. Me and Chris [Hemsworth] go toe-to-toe. It was hardcore. But you don’t really get into [these kinds of movies] of you’re not ready for that kind of thing. You gotta be mentally fit, physically fit because you’re going to shoot a scene ten to fifteen different ways.”
The British actor went on to give us a little insight into Kurse’s fighting style, as well as revealing that his character will also go head-to-head with the God of Mischief: “[Thor and Kurse] fight differently. Chris has his hammer while Kurse is very animalistic, he’s got horns. So I tried to go with that flow. My movements are [basically] like an animal: twisting my body, turning my head, all kinds of things. Kurse is meant to be extremely powerful, nothing can stop him. It’s a great ride. There’s fights everything in the movie. Loki gets his fair share of fights; [one of which] is between him and I as well. The great thing about Kurse is he is having it with everybody. But yes, Loki has some amazing fights. [Fans] are really gonna be happy with this movie. Everybody gets their little shine. I won’t tell you what really happens, but there’s some great surprises.”
Meanwhile, Triple A also revealed that he’s talking to Marvel about another role in an upcoming movie (presumably Guardians of the Galaxy), as well as expressing his desire to portray the King of Wakanda, Black Panther: “Who do I want to play him? Myself, let’s be real. I would hope that playing Kurse would ingratiate me to becoming the Panther. You get in and have success in one, and you go and do the next one. [My campaign] is definitely not dropped. He’s one of my faves. I would love to play him…. You have to keep at it, you have to keep your card in the hat and see what comes out but I have to say I’m thrilled, I’ve been able to play two characters in one movie and if [Marvel] likes this and it this does well, it just gives you a better chance.”
Thor: The Dark World is scheduled for release on November 8th, with a cast that also includes Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano, Jaimie Alexander, Rene Russo and Anthony Hopkins.
Originally published January 15, 2013. Updated April 10, 2018.
