Svartalfheim! Bless you. Okay, so we’re talking Thor: The Dark World, which got close to locking in a second villain in Mads Mikkelsen, but lost his services to the new TV take on Hannibal Lecter. Instead, director Alan Taylor and the Marvel team have now decided that Christopher Eccleston would make a fine bad guy to take on Asgard’s finest.

Eccleston is in final negotiations to play Malekith The Accursed, who, as his title suggests, is not a happy-go-lucky sort. He’s the leader of the dark elves of Svartalfheim (you really should have those allergies checked out) and, in the comics at least, also happens to be a teleport-capable shape-shifter with strong energy powers.

Eccleston seems like a good choice for someone to cause chaos in the same film as Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, even if him being a villain conjures thoughts of G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra and failed fantasy franchise-starter The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising. Hopefully the Thor universe will make better use of the Ninth Doctor.

Thor: The Dark World is in production now with Chris Hemsworth, Zachary Levi, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Idris Elba, Ray Stevenson and more aboard. It'll be out on November 8, 2013.