Before there was anything else in the universe, there was darkness inhabited by a race of dark elves who aspired to destroy the nine realms and return the cosmos to that same darkness. In a long and raging battle with the people of Asgard, the dark elves’ leader, Malekith, played by Christopher Eccelston, the former Ninth Doctor, annihilated the majority of his own race in order to destroy the Asgardian army as well (sound familiar Doctor who fans?). Malekith and what was left of his people escaped the ruin and hid in waiting for their next chance to exterminate the people of Asgard and the rest of the universe.

Fast forward a few generations, and it’s the aftermath of the Battle of New York. The Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D are trying to put the world back together. Thor, the God of Thunder from Asgard has been put in charge of fighting new battles in the other nine realms to restore order. His adopted brother, Loki, has been imprisoned for his treacherous actions against the city of New York and his own family. Thor’s love interest from the first movie, Jane Foster, has been stuck on Earth, waiting for Thor to return- until she encounters the Aether, a weapon of the ancient dark elves, and becomes infected by it. Thor finds her and brings her back to his home realm, and so begins the main action of the movie.

Thor: The Dark World continues Marvel’s record of fantastic superhero movies. It has everything that is to be expected in a superhero movie and much more. Of course, Thor contains many incredible action and battle scenes, the best being the final battle between Thor and Malekith, although it is difficult to make it realistic for an almost invincible Norse God to be beaten by a type of elf.

However, the best aspects of the film are not the action scenes; the best aspects are the humor and the twists and turns throughout he film. Some of the laugh out loud humor comes from Jane’s intern, Darcy, her own intern, and Jane’s coworker running around naked in Stonehenge, although admittedly they only serve as comic relief, and are only essential to the plot at the end.

There are some tear jerking scenes, but it’s impossible to stay upset over them for long due to the wise cracks and the jokes, especially from Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston, who absolutely steals the show in his role. Many of the jokes revolve around his sarcasm and his shape shifting abilities, and they do not disappoint. Although Loki’s shape shifting abilities are essential to the film, contributing to not only the humor, but also the film’s tricks and plot twists that keep you on your toes and keep you paying rapt attention.

Thor: The Dark World is yet another superhero movie that has it all and does it all well. Make sure to stay until the very, very end to see not one, but two of the end credits scenes that you don’t want to miss.