document_title: How I Met Your Mother

question_text: where did they film how i met your mother

question_tokens: where did they film how i met your mother

text: How I Met Your Mother

text: Premise[edit]

text: The series concerns the adventures of Ted Mosby (played by Josh Radnor) narrating the story of how he met the mother of his children. The story goes into a flashback and starts in 2005 with a 27-year-old Ted Mosby living in New York City and working as an architect; the narrative deals primarily with his best friends, including the long-lasting couple Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel) and Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan); the eccentric, womanizing-playboy Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris); and news reporter Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders). The lives of all characters are entwined in each others. The series explores many storylines, including a "will they or won't they" relationship between Robin and each of the two single male friends, Marshall and Lily's relationship, and the ups and downs of the characters' careers.

text: The show's frame story depicts Ted (voice of Bob Saget, uncredited) verbally retelling the story to his son Luke (David Henrie) and daughter Penny (Lyndsy Fonseca) as they sit on the couch in the year 2030. This future-set frame is officially the show's "present day" and How I Met Your Mother exploits this framing device in numerous ways: to depict and re-depict events from multiple points of view; to set up jokes using quick and sometimes multiple flashbacks nested within the oral retelling; to substitute visual, verbal or aural euphemisms for activities Ted doesn't want to talk about with his children (sexual practices, use of illicit substances, vulgar language, etc.); and even to add some elements of humor: in the episode "How I Met Everyone Else", Ted describes his dates with a girlfriend whose name he has forgotten, leading all characters to act as though her given name were "Blah-Blah."

text: While the traditional love-story structure begins when the romantic leads first encounter each other, How I Met Your Mother does not introduce Ted's wife (Cristin Milioti) until the eighth-season finale, and only announces her name (Tracy McConnell) during the series finale. The show instead focuses on Ted's prior relationships and his dissatisfaction with those women, thus setting the stage for his eventual happiness with Tracy.

text: Production[edit]

text: How I Met Your Mother was inspired by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas's idea to "write about our friends and the stupid stuff we did in New York", where they previously worked as writers for Late Show with David Letterman, among others.[1] The two drew from their friendship in creating the characters. Ted is based loosely on Bays, and Marshall and Lily are based loosely on Thomas and his wife.[9][10] Thomas' wife Rebecca was initially reluctant to have a character based on her but agreed if they could get Alyson Hannigan to play her. Hannigan was looking to do more comedy work and was available.[9] Josh Radnor and Jason Segel, who were cast as Ted and Marshall, respectively, were not well known, though Segel had been a cast member on the short-lived Freaks and Geeks and a recurring guest star on Judd Apatow follow-up Undeclared. The role of Barney was initially envisioned as a "John Belushi-type character"[11] before Neil Patrick Harris won the role after being invited to an audition by the show's casting director Megan Branman.[12] Pamela Fryman invited Bob Saget to be the voiceover narrator, Future Ted, explaining to him that the show would be like The Wonder Years but "kind of into the future".[13] Saget either went to the television studio and recorded the narration while watching the episode, or did so separately and rerecorded with the episode if necessary.[14] He normally did not attend table readings but did so for the last episode.[15]

text: In various interviews Bays and Thomas have stated that "a pretty famous actress"[16] turned down the role of Robin, whom they revealed in February 2014 to have been Jennifer Love Hewitt.[17] They then cast Cobie Smulders for the role who, at the time, was fairly unknown. Bays and Thomas later said, "Thank God we did for a million reasons... when Ted's seeing her for the first time, America's seeing her for the first time — the intriguingness of that propelled the show going forward and kept the show alive".[16] Although Ted is initially smitten by Robin in the pilot, it is quickly established at the end of the episode that she is not the mother, which Thomas said was done so they would not copy or rehash the "will they or won't they" Ross and Rachel storyline from Friends.[10]

text: According to an Entertainment Weekly article, the writers adopted facets of each main actor's personality and incorporated them into their characters. This includes Neil Patrick Harris's skills with magic, Jason Segel's passion for songwriting, Alyson Hannigan's absent-mindedness while pregnant, and Josh Radnor's intellectualism.[18]

text: MacLaren's, an Irish bar in the middle of New York, in which some of the show is set, is loosely based on four favorite bars of Bays, Thomas and others from the Late Show staff. They include: McGee's, a Midtown tavern near the Ed Sullivan Theater where the Late Show is taped; McHale's, a legendary Hell's Kitchen bar which closed in 2006; Chumley's, a since-closed historic Greenwich Village pub; and Fez, another closed bar on the Upper West Side.[19] McGee's had a mural that Bays and Thomas both liked and wanted to incorporate into the show.[20] The name for the bar is from Carter Bays' assistant, Carl MacLaren; the bartender in the show is also named Carl.[21]

text: Episodes were generally shot over a three-day period in the Los Angeles-based Soundstage Studio 22[22] and featured upwards of 50 scenes with quick transitions and flashbacks. However, the "Pilot" episode was filmed at CBS Radford.[23] The laugh track was later created by recording an audience being shown the final edited episode. Thomas claimed that shooting before a live audience would have been impossible because of the structure of the show and the numerous flashforwards in each episode and because doing so "would blur the line between 'audience' and 'hostage situation'".[24] Later seasons started filming in front of an audience on occasion when smaller sets were used.

text: The theme song is a portion of "Hey Beautiful" by The Solids, of which Bays and Thomas are members. Episodes from Season 1 generally started with the opening credits. A cold opening has been used since Season 2. Viewers then occasionally see Ted's children on a couch and hear him talking to them, telling the story of how he met their mother. Alternatively, scenes from previous episodes or shots of New York City with Ted narrating over the top are shown. Thomas has stated that Future Ted is an unreliable narrator since he is trying to tell a story that happened over 20 years earlier;[25] this has been a plot point in several episodes including "The Goat", "Oh Honey", "How I Met Everyone Else" and "The Mermaid Theory". Nevertheless, Thomas has also emphasized maintaining a coherent and consistent universe and trying to avoid continuity errors, a problem he noticed in other shows.[26]

text: A scene relating to the identity of the mother, involving Ted's future children, was filmed in 2006 for the show's eventual series finale.[27] This was done because it was likely that the teenage actors portraying them would be adults by the time the final season was shot.[25]

text: During the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, How I Met Your Mother shut-down production; when the strike ended, the show returned on March 17, 2008, with nine new episodes.[28] The network announced a change in the timeslot to 8:30 pm ET/7:30 pm CT, flip-flopping from the summer schedule with The Big Bang Theory.[29] CBS renewed the show for a fourth season on May 14, 2008,[30] which premiered on September 22, 2008.[31]

text: In September 2008, Lifetime Television announced it had purchased the cable rerun rights to How I Met Your Mother at a rate of about $725,000 per episode.[32] The four-year syndication contract stipulated that the studio deliver at least 110 half-hour episodes by the year 2010, and allowed for up to eight seasons of the show. At the end of the fourth season only 88 episodes had been produced, and a further 22 episodes were required, ensuring that there would be a fifth season.[33] There also was a complication with the writing of the show due to the absence of actress Alyson Hannigan due to her pregnancy. The writers had to create episodes that did not include one of the five main characters.[34] On May 19, 2009, the fifth-season renewal was announced.[35] May 20, 2009, CBS announced that How I Met Your Mother would again be aired at 8 pm, leading into the new comedy Accidentally on Purpose. On January 12, 2010, the show aired its 100th episode and CBS announced that the series would return for a sixth season.[36] Upon learning that the series would be syndicated, Thomas said, "We're thrilled that it will live on in other forms," and they were proud of the show and it was great to see the strong demand.[37]

text: Reruns of the series began airing on local U.S. broadcast television stations and on Chicago-based cable superstation WGN America September 13, 2010. Featured in these airings are vanity cards previously unseen in the CBS and Lifetime airings due to marginalized credit sequences used by the two networks. Shown in between the closing credits and the production company credits, these vanity cards show portions of "The Bro Code", a list of rules frequently referenced by Harris' character, Barney Stinson, on how men should interact with each other, with an emphasis on activities involving pursuing members of the opposite sex. The opening theme song for the syndicated reruns is also slightly edited, running shorter and not using all the pictures seen in the opening montage that runs on DVD and the original CBS broadcasts. The episodes are also slightly edited, leaving out a few details.

text: One of the series' ongoing traditions involves giving guest roles to actors from various Joss Whedon productions, many of whom co-starred with Hannigan on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Bays attributes this to their being "huge fans" and to those casts representing "a big talent pool".[38]

text: On March 4, 2011, CBS announced that the show had been renewed for two more seasons,[39] with the seventh season premiering with back-to-back episodes on September 19, 2011.[40]

text: On July 27, 2011, the FX channel announced it had picked up the series for syndication. On September 5, 2011, FX began airing the series.[41]

text: Although cast members had previously stated that the show would not run longer than eight seasons,[42] a ninth season was secured in December 2012 amidst tense negotiations with the studios and the actors – especially Jason Segel, who had wanted to move on to other ventures after the eighth season.[43][44] During these negotiations, Bays and Thomas originally approached the eighth season as if it was the show's last year, but also had a "Plan B" if the show was renewed.[45] After producers secured a ninth and final season, they implemented plans to secretly cast the titular future mother, with Cristin Milioti eventually winning the role, besting at least two other contenders.[16] Milioti first appeared in the last scene in the season eight finale "Something New" and was a regular cast member in the show's final season.[46] This marked the first time that the show had expanded its core roster.[46][47]

text: In January 2013, How I Met Your Mother was renewed for a ninth and final season.[48] Carter Bays stated to Entertainment Weekly that season nine "will feature some of the most non-linear episodes we've ever done".[49]

text: The season nine premiere episode aired on September 23, 2013 and the one-hour series finale aired on March 31, 2014.[8]

text: Cast and characters[edit]

text:
Main cast

Josh Radnor
Cristin Milioti
Neil Patrick Harris
Cobie Smulders
Alyson Hannigan
Jason Segel

Ted Mosby
Tracy McConnell
Barney Stinson
Robin Scherbatsky
Lily Aldrin
Marshall Eriksen

text:
Josh Radnor as Ted Mosby, an architect, college professor and the central character of the series. He is the main protagonist where he tells the story of his adult years from his late twenties to his early thirties and about all his obstacles he has to endure before he meets The One aka the Mother. This story is told by the Older Ted Mosby, and narrator of the series, Bob Saget. Ted moved to New York City with his friends Marshall and Lily after graduating from Wesleyan University. In New York, he met Barney at the urinal of MacLaren's and Robin, to whom he was immediately attracted. Ted is on a quest for happiness and "The One", the woman he will marry. Ted prefers more elegant and high-class interests than his friends have. He goes to great lengths to profess his love to the women in his life, but they all falter eventually. Despite these qualities, Ted often acts immaturely, such as partaking in wild activities with Barney. He meets the love of his life (the titular Mother) in the show's finale.
Jason Segel as Marshall Eriksen, Ted's best friend. In season 2 Marshall marries Lily, with whom he has been in love since his freshman year of college; they have a child during season 7. Marshall was born in St. Cloud, Minnesota. He has an interest in paranormal phenomenon, and mythical creatures, particularly Sasquatch. His dream to be an environmental lawyer conflicts with his immediate need for money, such as for his wedding and to raise his children.
Cobie Smulders as Robin Scherbatsky, a news anchor who has on-again off-again relationships with both Ted and Barney. Robin emigrated from Canada to take a job in a news station and met Ted at MacLaren's; her Canadian background is a source of many jokes from her friends. She is shown to be very career-centric and rejects traditional roles, such as getting married and having kids. Robin often drinks scotch and smokes cigars, and she is an avid gun fan. She and Barney get engaged and later marry in the first part of the series finale, but divorce in the second part, three years later.
Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson is a serial playboy, using his relative wealth and an array of outrageous strategies to seduce women for sex with no intention of engaging in a relationship. His catchphrases include 'Suit Up' and 'Legend-wait-for-it-Dary'. He is Ted's "bro," often jealous of Marshall for having known Ted since college. Abandoned by his father at a young age, Barney has abandonment issues and clings to his friends. He marries Robin in the series finale but they divorce after three years. In 2020, a failed one-night stand gives him a daughter, Ellie.
Alyson Hannigan as Lily Aldrin, a kindergarten teacher, aspiring artist, and Marshall's wife. She is terrible at keeping secrets, and can be manipulative at times. She marries Marshall in season 2 and gives birth to Marvin in season 7. Though appearing sweet and cute, Lily can be quite unexpectedly fierce.
Cristin Milioti as Tracy McConnell (guest - season 8; main - season 9),[46] the future wife of Ted Mosby, The Mother. Tracy McConnell is first seen in the finale of season 8, though her name is hinted at season 1 (01x09 "Belly full of Turkey") and officially revealed in the series finale. Ted falls madly in love with her, but in 2024 she passes away.
Bob Saget as Future Ted Mosby (voice only, uncredited), Ted's future self, telling his children the story of how he met their mother, in the year 2030.

tag: ul

text: Season synopsis[edit]

text:
Season
Episodes
Originally aired

First aired
Last aired

1
22
September 19, 2005 (2005-09-19)
May 15, 2006 (2006-05-15)

2
22
September 18, 2006 (2006-09-18)
May 14, 2007 (2007-05-14)

3
20
September 24, 2007 (2007-09-24)
May 19, 2008 (2008-05-19)

4
24
September 22, 2008 (2008-09-22)
May 18, 2009 (2009-05-18)

5
24
September 21, 2009 (2009-09-21)
May 24, 2010 (2010-05-24)

6
24
September 20, 2010 (2010-09-20)
May 16, 2011 (2011-05-16)

7
24
September 19, 2011 (2011-09-19)
May 14, 2012 (2012-05-14)

8
24
September 24, 2012 (2012-09-24)
May 13, 2013 (2013-05-13)

9
24
September 23, 2013 (2013-09-23)
March 31, 2014 (2014-03-31)

text: Season 1[edit]

text: In the year 2030, Ted Mosby (voiced by Bob Saget) sits his daughter and son down to tell them the story of how he met their mother.

text: The series begins in September 2005 with Ted (Josh Radnor) as a single, 27-year-old architect living with his two best friends from his college years; Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel), a law student, and Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan), a kindergarten teacher and an aspiring artist. Lily and Marshall have been dating for almost nine years when Marshall finally proposes. Their engagement causes Ted to think about marriage and finding his soul mate, much to the disgust of his self-appointed best friend Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris), whom he met in the restroom at a bar four years earlier. Barney is a serial womanizer who concocts elaborate con games, usually involving costumes and fake identities, designed to bed women, only to lose interest in them immediately afterward.

text: Ted begins his search for his perfect soul mate and meets an ambitious young reporter from Canada, Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders), with whom he quickly falls in love. Robin, however, does not want to rush into a relationship and the two decide to be friends. Future Ted reveals that Robin is not the mother after referring to her as "Aunt Robin".

text: Ted begins dating a baker, Victoria (Ashley Williams), whom he meets at Stuart and Claudia's wedding, causing Robin to become jealous, and realize she does have feelings for Ted. Victoria is offered a fellowship in pastry-making, moves to Germany and she and Ted try a long-distance relationship. Once Ted learns Robin has feelings for him, he tells her he broke up with Victoria, even though he has not. They almost have sex when Victoria calls and Robin answers, mistaking Ted's phone for her own. Ted and Victoria then break up and an angry Robin distances herself from Ted, but they eventually reconcile and decide to date.

text: Meanwhile, Lily begins to wonder if she's missed any opportunities because of her relationship with Marshall, and decides to pursue an art fellowship in San Francisco, breaking-up with Marshall in the process. The season ends with Ted returning to the apartment, the morning after spending the night with Robin for the first time, to find Marshall sitting in the rain with Lily's engagement ring, devastated by their sudden break-up.

text: Season 2[edit]

text: Ted and Robin are now a couple; meanwhile, a heartbroken Marshall tries to continue his life without Lily. After enduring numerous emotional breakdowns, Marshall's friends step in, and Barney, using sly catchphrases and pick-up lines, tries to get Marshall back in the dating game. Later, Lily, after finally realizing she is not meant to be an artist, returns to New York. They remain separated as Marshall begins to date another girl, described by the gang as having 'crazy eyes'. The date with the girl does not end well and eventually leads to Lily and Marshall becoming reunited, and their engagement eventually resumes. When Robin refuses to go to the mall or explain why, Marshall suspects she is married, and Barney suspects she has performed in adult films. They bet on it, appointing Lily as "Slap Bet Commissioner." Lily oversees the search for the truth, as they discover that Robin was a teenage pop star named "Robin Sparkles", and Marshall eventually earns the right to slap Barney five times whenever he wishes. He uses one slap immediately and another later in the season. It is revealed that Barney has a gay African American half-brother named James (Wayne Brady) and, unaware that his mother lied to him, believes that Bob Barker is his father. As a result of this he takes a trip to California to be a contestant on The Price Is Right to meet his "father". While on the show, Barney wins all the prizes and gives them to Lily and Marshall as a 'happy early wedding' present.

text: In the season finale, Ted reveals to Barney that he and Robin have been broken up for some time due to their conflicting views on marriage and children. They did not tell anyone, in order to avoid taking attention away from Lily and Marshall's wedding. The season ends with Barney's excitement at the prospect of he and Ted being single guys on the town again. Barney's final words are "this is going to be legen- wait for it...".

text: Season 3[edit]

text: Barney begins the season with the word, "-dary!" Robin returns from a trip to Argentina with her new boyfriend, Gael (Enrique Iglesias), and Ted must adjust to life as just her friend, while watching Robin and Gael fawning over each other. Marshall and Lily decide to move out on their own, falling in love with a place they cannot afford. Robin learns of Lily's bad credit rating due to her compulsive shopping for designer brands, and forces Lily to tell Marshall. Despite this, they are able to finally secure their dream apartment, only to discover it's in a bad location and more poorly constructed than they thought (the floor is tilted). Barney is slapped for the third time on Thanksgiving, which Marshall dubs "Slapsgiving."

text: Ted tells his children he met their mother through a story concerning her yellow umbrella. He finds the umbrella at a club and takes it home after attending a St. Patrick's Day party where his future wife was, although they did not meet. Ted attempts to woo Stella (Sarah Chalke), a dermatologist he sees to remove an embarrassing butterfly tattoo. This culminates in a memorable "two-minute date," which incorporates small talk, dinner, a movie, coffee, two cab rides, and a goodnight kiss, all within two minutes. Robin sleeps with Barney after he comforts her following a break-up with a past Canadian love; Ted is infuriated, and decides to stop being friends with Barney. Meanwhile, an unknown woman begins to sabotage Barney's attempts to hook up. His saboteur is revealed to be Abby (Britney Spears), Stella's receptionist, with a vendetta against him for not calling her after they had sex.

text: In the season finale, Ted gets into a car accident and ends up in hospital after breaking up with Stella. Subsequently, Barney is hit by a bus while he is on his way to visit Ted and receives treatment in the same hospital. Ted realizes Barney really cares about him and they renew their friendship. Barney's true feelings for Robin are revealed while Ted proposes to Stella in an arcade with a toy kangaroo.

text: Season 4[edit]

text: Stella says yes to Ted's proposal. Robin takes a new job in Japan, but quickly resigns and returns to New York to attend Ted's wedding, after realizing how much she misses her friends. Stella leaves Ted at the altar to get back together with Tony (Jason Jones), the father of her daughter. Barney struggles with his feelings for Robin as his company shifts him to the management team of a new acquisition, Goliath National Bank (GNB), where Marshall has accepted a position.

text: Marshall and Lily move to their new apartment and debate over whether or not they're ready to have children. Robin becomes roommates with Ted and gets a job as an anchor for a 4 AM news show after Barney submits her video resume. Ted and Robin decide to sleep together constantly so they will not fight over each other's bad co-living habits. Barney attempts to make them stop fighting to prevent this, revealing to Ted his love for Robin.

text: Ted finds out Lily has sabotaged all of his relationships with anyone she does not approve of and indirectly may have inspired his breakup with Robin. Robin and Ted end up talking about it, causing their friendship to begin moving toward a positive note. After Barney finally sleeps with his 200th woman (and rubs it in the face of the childhood bully who taunted him into pursuing it), he begins to question the purpose of the remainder of his life, leaving him more certain of his feelings for Robin.

text: Ted, while carrying the yellow umbrella, bumps into Stella and Tony. Tony later decides to visit him, sympathizing with Ted over his loss of Stella. Tony offers him a job as a professor of architecture, which Ted initially turns down.

text: In the season finale Robin finds out that Barney loves her, and initially refuses to commit to anything but a sex-only relationship; they seemingly end up together anyway. Ted decides that being an architect is leading nowhere, and finally decides instead to become a college professor. The finale ends with Ted preparing to teach his first class and Future Ted revealing to his children that one of the women in the class is their mother.

text: Season 5[edit]

text: Ted begins his job as a professor of architecture, standing in the middle of a classroom – although the mother was present, it turns out to be an economics class as he's in the wrong lecture hall. Barney and Robin have had a sexual relationship throughout the summer and Lily locks them in a room, forcing them to come to terms with their relationship. After a rough patch they decide to break up. Robin describes it instead as "two friends getting back together." Barney immediately goes back to his old ways, using the playbook to score with women. Throughout the season Barney and Robin show feelings of regret over their break-up.

text: Ted dates a graduate student named Cindy (Rachel Bilson) and it is revealed her roommate is his future wife. Robin meets Don Frank (Benjamin Koldyke), her new co-anchor on her 4 AM TV show. Though she initially dislikes him, the two start dating and eventually she moves in with him. At the end of the season they break up when Don takes a job in Chicago — a job which Robin had previously turned down to stay in New York with Don. Marshall uses his fourth slap on Barney, once again at Thanksgiving. Ted buys a house, which needs to be fixed up badly, but is later revealed to be the future home for Ted and his children.

text: Lily and Marshall are still unsure about having children. After watching four doppelgangers of their group (Lesbian Robin, Moustache Marshall, Stripper Lily and Mexican Wrestler Ted) they decide to leave the big decision to the universe's "infinite wisdom" and start trying when they have seen Barney's Doppelganger.

text: In the season finale, Barney disguises himself to have sex with a girl from every country in the world, and Lily and Marshall mistake him for the final doppelganger. When Marshall finds out, he decides not to tell Lily, fearing she will want to wait even longer to have children. Lily eventually finds out and decides to wait. In the season finale, Lily thinks she sees Barney's doppelganger as a hot dog vendor, which causes the group to realize she is seeing what she wants to see, and play along. Eventually Barney agrees having babies is not a stupid idea and Lily and Marshall should go forth. The season ends with Lily asking Marshall to "put a baby in my belly".

text: Season 6[edit]

text: In the season opening, Ted sees Cindy again with a girl who he thinks to be her roommate, but she turns out to be Cindy's girlfriend whom she later marries. After prodding by Barney, Ted is eventually hired by GNB once more as the architect of the bank's new headquarters, which was originally scrapped in Season 4. However, he encounters opposition when he meets Zoey Pierson (Jennifer Morrison), a woman who is protesting against GNB for selecting a decrepit hotel, the Arcadian, to be torn down for the headquarters. Over the season, Ted's encounters with Zoey eventually blossom into a relationship after she divorces her rich husband, the Captain (Kyle MacLachlan), but they break up as he puts his career and friends over love, leading to the Arcadian's demolition. Ted also resolves not to get back with Zoey.

text: Having agreed to conceive a baby at the end of the previous season, Lily and Marshall keep having sex, hoping she will get pregnant. Around Christmas, they have a false alarm and later seek fertility testing. The fertility specialist, Dr. Stangel, turns out to be Barney's doppelgänger, fulfilling their promise with the universe in regard to their decision to have a child. However, tragedy strikes when Marshall's father passes away, leaving him devastated and the gang comforting him. Marshall tries to get over his father's death and live again. Despite a pledge to Lily to work harder for their future, Marshall resigns from GNB and follows his dream of being an environmental lawyer. Zoey also hires him as her lawyer in what became a futile battle to save the Arcadian. At the end of the season, Lily reveals that she is pregnant.

text: Barney finally admits to the gang that Bob Barker is not his real father, especially when his mother decides to sell the house he grew up in and his brother, James, meets his own father. Loretta offers the identity of Barney's father on a sheet of paper, but Barney tears this up after realizing her efforts as a single mother. At the funeral of Marshall's father, Barney tells Loretta that he wants to see his father at last. The man, Jerry Whittaker (John Lithgow), is eventually revealed to be someone whom Barney thought was his uncle. Barney, who remembers Jerry as a fun-loving man, is disappointed after learning how Jerry has grown out of his free-wheeling ways. Although he tries to bring back Jerry's old behaviors, Barney admits that he wants to settle down someday. He is also introduced to Nora (Nazanin Boniadi), a co-worker of Robin, for whom he develops feelings. After an initial falling out, the two reconcile at the end of the season after Barney asks her for coffee.

text: Robin continues to work at her talk show, Come On, Get Up, New York!, but the presence of a new hyperactive co-host forces her to leave. She is accepted as a researcher in another network, World Wide News. The gang also discovers more of her past as the Canadian pop star Robin Sparkles. Robin also encounters a man (Michael Trucco) she has had a secret crush on since first seeing him when she and Ted were dating, and Future Ted hints that they will see more of him later.

text: Short scenes during the season premiere and finale feature a wedding set sometime in the future, where Ted will meet his future wife. In the final scene of the season, the groom is revealed to be Barney.

text: Season 7[edit]

text: Season seven opens with another flash forward, in which Ted is helping Barney get ready for his wedding to a still-unknown bride. In the present, Marshall gets a job in environmental law while Lily progresses with her pregnancy. Barney proves to Nora that he can be a good boyfriend to her, while Robin is revealed to still have feelings for Barney. Robin meets a therapist Kevin (Kal Penn) and they start to date. Meanwhile, after a period of unemployment since leaving GNB, Marshall finally manages to land his dream job at a top environmental law firm. After losing a bet, Barney is forced to wear a tie with a duck pattern on it (nicknamed the 'Ducky Tie') which he hates. Marshall allows him to take it off when meeting Nora's parents on the condition that Barney has three slaps added to the one still remaining from the Slap Bet. Marshall uses two slaps immediately, leaving two left.

text: While reminiscing about Hurricane Irene, Lily and Marshall reveal that they conceived their baby in Barney's apartment, and Barney and Robin end up sleeping together. Barney and Robin decide to break up with their partners, but Robin reneges on the deal, returning to Kevin and leaving Barney alone and heartbroken. Robin has a pregnancy scare at Thanksgiving and tells Barney the child is his, since she and Kevin had not yet slept together. However, Robin's doctor informs her that she cannot have children at all. Kevin, who wants children, proposes to Robin, who decides that they must break up. Ted comforts Robin and reveals he still loves her, but the gesture is unrequited. Eventually, she moves out to give him some space.

text: Marshall and Lily decide they want to move to Long Island, after Lily's paternal grandparents offer them their house there. Eventually, they move back to the old apartment in New York City after realizing suburban life is not for them. Ted gives them his apartment because he believes he cannot move on from Robin while living there, while he and Robin become estranged and do not speak for several weeks. Robin is eventually offered a news anchor job and subsequently achieves recognition after preventing a helicopter she is flying in from crashing.

text: Barney starts dating a stripper named Quinn, to the group's initial apprehension. The gang begins to meddle in their relationship, but Barney and Quinn outsmart their attempts and win their approval. Quinn moves in with Barney, while Ted buys Quinn's old apartment. Lily goes into labor and frantically calls Barney and Marshall, who are out at a casino. After many attempts to escape, Barney helps Marshall arrive in time for Lily's delivery and chooses the middle name for the baby, Marvin Waitforit Eriksen. Ted and Robin's friendship also recovers as a result of Marvin's birth. As the season concludes, Marshall and Lily begin their new family with their baby, Barney proposes to Quinn, and Ted contacts his old girlfriend Victoria. Unhappy with her own impending marriage, she leaves her fiancé for Ted and the pair drive off into the sunset. A final flash forward returns to the day of Barney's wedding, where Robin is revealed as the bride.

text: Season 8[edit]

text: Ted visits Robin on the day of her wedding to Barney, causing him to remember how he and Victoria ran away from her wedding to be together. The summer is spent with Ted, Barney, and Robin enjoying their current relationships; however, all subsequently break up with their partners. Victoria splits up with Ted over his friendship with Robin, Barney and Quinn break up due to their inability to trust each other, and Robin breaks up with Nick realizing his immaturity. Robin and Barney kiss but decide not to get together, despite Barney's wishes. Barney then begins dating Robin's hated co-worker Patrice (Ellen D. Williams), a relationship later exposed as a ruse to make Robin realize her true feelings for him. In a culminating scene Barney proposes to Robin, who says yes.

text: Marshall and Lily attempt to get used to being parents, which causes a brief estrangement from the gang as Baby Marvin takes up the majority of their time. Lily's father Mickey becomes Marvin's nanny, freeing the two up to spend more time with their friends. The Captain, ex-husband of Ted's old girlfriend Zoey, offers Lily a job as an art consultant after she identifies a painting that made a huge profit for him. Lily accepts, happy to finally achieve her dream of having a job in the art industry, while Marshall decides to apply to become a judge. The Captain offers Lily a year's work in Rome, which she accepts with Marshall's blessing. However, just before Barney and Robin's wedding, Marshall is informed that his application to become a judge has been granted, a development that would require them to stay in the US.

text: Ted briefly dates Jeanette (Abby Elliott), a girl who stalked him after he appeared on the cover of New York Magazine for designing GNB headquarters. He quickly realizes he's made a mistake and breaks up with her. Ted's feelings of loneliness grow, especially as he is now the only single member of the group, and he decides he is truly ready to settle down. He argues with Lily over hiring a DJ or a band for Barney and Robin's wedding, but is forced to provide a band at short notice when Lily concedes the argument. During a chance meeting on the subway, Cindy offers the services of her roommate's wedding band. This roommate is Ted's future wife.

text: As the week of the wedding approaches, Robin has doubts about marrying Barney and shares an emotional moment with Ted. Guilty, Ted realizes he can't be around Barney and Robin after they're married and decides to move to Chicago the day after the wedding. The season concludes with everyone travelling to Barney and Robin's wedding, including the mother of Ted's children (revealed on screen for the first time and portrayed by Cristin Milioti), who is seen buying a train ticket to the venue and holding her yellow umbrella.

text: Season 9[edit]

text: With the exception of the very last episode, the entirety of season nine takes place in the 56 hours leading up to Barney and Robin's wedding.

text: Marshall, who is stuck in Minnesota, desperately tries to find a way to get to the wedding in time. Meanwhile, in Farhampton, the time is slowly counting down to the wedding, with a new problem arising in almost every episode. It is revealed that Lily is pregnant and that she and Marshall will have a daughter. It was also revealed that Ted's children are named Penny and Luke. In addition, the 200th episode detailed the Mother's eight years before meeting Ted, while later episodes gave viewers a glimpse of Ted and the Mother together in flash forward scenes. Also, Marshall uses his final two slaps from the slap bet; the first being used as an apology present for missing the rehearsal dinner, and the second when Barney begins to panic just before the beginning of the wedding ceremony.

text: In the series finale, it was revealed that after three years of marriage, Barney and Robin decide to divorce. Barney ends up fathering a child during a one-night stand. Marshall eventually becomes a judge, and he and Lily have three children. Ted's wife Tracy dies of an unknown illness in 2024, six years prior to Ted telling his children the full story of how they met. Upon finishing the story, at the urging of his kids, Ted decides to ask Robin out. Alluding to the first season, the finale ends with Robin looking out her apartment window to see Ted on the street holding the blue French horn.

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: The first season was met with mixed reviews from critics, and was often compared unfavorably to Friends. The review aggregator, Rotten Tomatoes reported that 56% of critics gave the season a positive review.[50] On Metacritic, a review aggregation site that collects critical opinions, it scored a 69 out of 100.[51] Michael Abernethy of PopMatters gave the season a negative review, writing that "The comedy that does occur in How I Met Your Mother isn't enough to compensate for its inconsistencies."[52] Tom Shales of The Washington Post gave the season a lukewarm review, saying it's "a little better than most other sitcoms, past and present -- especially those featuring wacky urban friends in their twenties experiencing the bittersweet mysteries of life."[53] On the other hand, Melanie Macfarlane gave the season a positive review, saying the show "may not break any comedic ground, but it's the sort of comfortable, reliable hitter CBS needs on Monday nights."[54]

text: The second season received widespread critical acclaim.[55] Staci Krause of IGN gave the season a positive review, calling it "great".[56]

text: The third season was met with mostly positive reviews.[57] Michelle Zoromski of IGN gave the season a positive review, saying that "the season was fun and clever, a good, consistent flow from the first two seasons".[58]

text: The fourth season received critical acclaim and is generally considered the best season of the series. Michelle Zoromski of IGN gave Season 4 an overall rating of 8.5 out of 10, stating that "This fourth season seemed to settle down the chase for the titular mother. While Ted was busy dating Stella, the gang settled into many stand alone episodes which were every bit as entertaining as episodes devoted to Ted's love life". Zoromski went on to say: "A stellar Robin-Marshall episode, titled 'Little Minnesota', makes it clear that these two do not get enough screen time together. With Robin homesick and unemployed (and at risk of being deported), this pairing brought out the best Robin Sparkles reference of the season, when Marshall leads a rousing karaoke version of 'Let's Go to the Mall!'"[59]

text: The fifth season received mostly positive reviews. Cindy McLennan of Television Without Pity gave the season a mixed review, and at the end of the season wrote: "I'm okay with any given season not being primarily focused on mother-meeting, but this season, the characters seemed to regress -- particularly Barney and Ted. Usually, when a season ends, I have to deal with a week or two weeks' worth of letdown. Right now, all I'm feeling is relief."[60]

text: The sixth season received generally positive reviews.[61] Justin Fowler of Later Reviews gave the season a positive review, saying that the season was "a pretty good season of television" and better than the "poor" fifth season. He also said that "Seventeen out of the 24 episodes are what I would consider good".[62]

text: The seventh season received mixed reviews. Alan Sepinwall gave the season a mixed review and criticized the flash-forwards throughout the season, saying that "the show is just much, much stronger when its stories dwell on matters of the present or the past, and where the writers don't have to act like magicians trying to keep the audience from figuring out how the trick works. And the finale affirmed that belief for me. The parts that had little or nothing to do with things to come were quite good; the parts that were all about the future made me roll my eyes and ask, for the umpteenth time, 'Really? This is where you're going with this?'"[63]

text: The eighth season was widely criticized, with Rotten Tomatoes reporting that 40% of critics gave the show a positive review. The consensus reads: "How I Met Your Mother wears out its welcome this season, with an anticlimactic reveal and rote, less-than-fruitful humor."[64]

text: The ninth season received mixed to positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 80% of critics gave the show a positive review, with an average rating of 7.3 out of 10. Gareth Mitchell at "House of Geekery" responded negatively, mostly criticizing the structure of the season, stating that they are "struggling to come up with stories that last out the 22 minutes".[65] The finale of the show received a polarized reaction from fans. While some complained that the last few seasons had built towards an end game that was discarded within the hour-long episode, others felt that it remained true to both the initial concept of the show and to life itself.[66]

text: Tie-ins[edit]

text: Books[edit]

text:
The Bro Code, cited by Barney many times throughout the series, is a set of written rules for bros to follow, and has been published as a tie-in novel, an audiobook,[67] an iPhone Application and an Android Application. Barney alleges it was written by Barnabus Stinson, a contemporary of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. Many of the rules listed in this book also appear in the show's closing vanity cards in syndication.
Bro on the Go, a companion to The Bro Code, released in 2009.[68]
Bro Code for Parents: What to Expect When You're Awesome, released in 2012.[69]
The Playbook, based on the fifth season episode of the same name, by Barney Stinson and Matt Kuhn.[70]
How I Met Your Mother and Philosophy, released in 2013.[71]

text: Soundtracks[edit]

text:
A soundtrack album entitled How I Met Your Music: Original Songs from the Hit Series was released digitally to iTunes on September 24, 2012, featuring songs from the first seven seasons[72]
A second soundtrack album entitled How I Met Your Music: Deluxe was released digitally to iTunes on September 23, 2014, featuring songs from the final two seasons.[73]

text: Pineapple Incident Explained[edit]

text: After the end of the series, the officials released a short video, explaining the running mystery of the pineapple in the Pineapple Incident (season 1, episode 10). The extra footage revealed that a character revealed in the 6th season, the Captain, had put a pineapple in front of his door as a tradition and Ted took the pineapple while he was drunk.[74]

text: Proposed spin-offs[edit]

text: How I Met Your Dad[edit]

text: On November 15, 2013, it was announced that CBS and the series' producer 20th Century Fox Television would launch How I Met Your Dad, a woman-centric variation executive-produced by Bays, Thomas, and Emily Spivey.[75] The new series would possibly have featured a new bar and would not have tied into the original series.[76] The primary cast of the series was revealed to be Greta Gerwig, Drew Tarver, Nicholas D'Agosto and Andrew Santino.[77] On April 23, 2014, Meg Ryan was announced to voice future Sally.[78]

text: On May 14, 2014, CBS passed on picking up How I Met Your Dad since show creators Craig Thomas and Carter Bays did not want to reshoot the pilot.[79] Nina Tassler, the entertainment president at CBS, stated that "there were elements of the pilot that didn't work out". Talks of the series being "shopped" to other networks emerged.[79][80] Netflix, FOX and NBC were named as possible candidates for picking up the show.[81]

text: Ultimately, nothing came of those talks. It was reported that the options on the cast contracts had expired and they had been released from their contracts and co-creator Carter Bays denied any rumours that the spin-off pilot will be reshot. On July 11, 2014, Bays confirmed that the spin-off project was officially dead.[82] Six days later, Nina Tassler said that CBS would "love the opportunity to take another shot" at the pilot and that she would continue to "hound" Carter Bays and Craig Thomas – even though they shot down the idea of a new version of the project stating that they had both moved on.[83]

text: How I Met Your Father (First attempt)[edit]

text: On December 14, 2016, it was reported that Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger were set to write a new version of the previous spin-off's pilot, re-titled How I Met Your Father, with Bays and Thomas serving as executive producers.[84] On March 6, 2017, it was announced that following signing new contracts with 20th Century Fox Television that would see both Aptaker and Berger being promoted to executive producers and co-showrunners on This Is Us alongside Dan Fogelman, their completed spec script for How I Met Your Father would be placed on the back burner in light of their new duties.[85] The idea was later completely abandoned.

text: How I Met Your Father (Second attempt)[edit]

text: On August 8, 2017, Fox chairman Dana Walden told Deadline that the studio was set to try a third spin-off with different writers. It was also stated that all ideas from the previous two attempts will not be carried over and the new attempt will be created from scratch.[86] On August 11, 2017, Deadline reported that Alison Bennett had been selected to write the spin-off. It was also confirmed that this incarnation would be developed under the title used for the Aptaker and Berger project, and that Bays and Thomas are once again attached as executive producers.[87]

text: Russian adaptation[edit]

text: The GoodStoryMedia, a Russian production company, made a remake of the series which was broadcast on STS and ran for two seasons.[88]

text: Nielsen ratings[edit]

text: The show's highest viewed episode was the series finale, "Last Forever", watched by 13.13 million viewers.[89] Previously, the most viewed episode was the season 1 episode "The Pineapple Incident", watched by 12.3 million viewers. The lowest-viewed episode was the season 6 episode "Landmarks", watched by 6.4 million viewers, approximately 52% of the show's series high.

text: Season nine was the highest watched season overall and among the 18-49 adults, scoring a 4.5 rating in that sector[90] up from the second-highest rating of 4.1 in season seven.[91]

text:
Season
Timeslot (ET)
Season premiere
Season finale
TV season
Rank
Avg. viewers
(in millions)

1
Monday 8:30 P.M.
September 19, 2005
May 15, 2006
2005–2006
54[92]
9.47[92]

2
Monday 8:30 P.M.
(Episodes 1–3)
Monday 8:00 P.M.
(Episodes 4–22)
September 18, 2006
May 14, 2007
2006–2007
61[93]
8.94[93]

3
Monday 8:00 P.M.
(Episodes 1–11)
Monday 8:30 P.M.
(Episodes 12–20)
September 24, 2007
May 19, 2008
2007–2008
70[94]
8.21[94]

4
Monday 8:30 P.M.
September 22, 2008
May 18, 2009
2008–2009
49[95]
9.42[95]

5
Monday 8:00 P.M.
September 21, 2009
May 24, 2010
2009–2010
42[96]
8.60[96]

6
September 20, 2010
May 16, 2011
2010–2011
48
8.79[97]

7
September 19, 2011
May 14, 2012
2011–2012
45[91]
9.67[91]

8
September 24, 2012
May 13, 2013
2012–2013
42
9.02[98]

9
September 23, 2013
March 31, 2014
2013–2014
28[90]
10.51[90]

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text:
Awards & nominations

Award
Won
Nominated

ALMA Awards

1
2

Art Directors Guild

0
7

Casting Society of America

0
1

Critics' Choice Television Awards

1
1

Emmy Awards

9
28

EWwy Awards

1
1

GLAAD Media Awards

0
1

Golden Globe Awards

0
2

People's Choice Awards

6
17

PRISM Awards

0
1

Satellite Awards

0
4

TCA Awards

0
2

Teen Choice Awards

0
4

Young Hollywood Awards

0
1

Total number of wins and nominations

Totals
18
72

text: The show has been nominated for 72 awards, winning 18. The show has been nominated for 28 Emmy Awards, including a nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series. Stars Alyson Hannigan and Neil Patrick Harris have each received acting accolades, with both receiving People's Choice Awards, and Harris receiving Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. In 2012, seven years after its premiere, the series won the People's Choice for Favorite Network TV Comedy. The show's art direction, editing and cinematography have also been awarded.

text: DVD releases[edit]

text:
DVD season
Release dates
Episodes
Additional information

Region 1
Region 2
Region 4

Season 1
November 21, 2006
May 7, 2007
January 10, 2007
22

Includes:

commentaries on six episodes
a video yearbook
2 music videos ("First Round" and "Last Call")
a gag reel

Episodes have been cropped from the broadcast widescreen to a full frame 4:3 format

Season 2
October 2, 2007
February 8, 2010
April 8, 2008
22

Includes:

commentaries on seven episodes
How We Make Your Mother
2 music videos ("Let's Go To The Mall" and "Hey Beautiful")
3 "How It Really Happened" scenes
a gag reel
an Easter Egg.

The Legendary Season 3
October 7, 2008
May 10, 2010
February 11, 2009
20

Includes:

commentaries on 7 episodes
a series retrospective
Lily & Marshall's honeymoon videos
cast favorites
a behind the scenes of "We're Not From Here"
6 "How It Really Happened" scenes
2 music videos ("You Just Got Slapped" and "Sandcastles in the Sand")
"Ted Mosby Is A Jerk" audio track
a gag reel.

The Awesome Season 4
September 29, 2009
July 19, 2010
October 27, 2009
24

Includes:

commentaries on 4 episodes
A Night With Your Mother: Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Panel Discussion
season recap
Eriksen's Fight Club
a music video ("That Guy's Awesome")
a gag reel

Also available on Blu-Ray, and is the only season to have a subsequent Blu Ray release.

The Complete Season 5. The Suited-Up Edition
September 21, 2010
November 8, 2010
October 27, 2010
24

Includes:

a gag reel
music videos for "Super Date", "Nothing Suits Me Like a Suit", and "Best Night Ever"
2 behind the scenes features
making of "Super Date"
behind the scenes of the 100th episode
an extended version of the "Wedding Bride" trailer
a musical series recap.

The Complete Season 6. The New Is Always Better Edition
September 27, 2011
October 3, 2011
October 5, 2011
24

Includes:

a gag reel
making of "Subway Wars"
behind the scenes of "Glitter"
commentaries on 3 episodes
an extended performance of "Stand By Me"
a season recap[99]

The Complete Season 7. The Ducky Tie Edition
October 2, 2012
October 15, 2012
October 10, 2012
24

Includes:

a gag reel
2 behind the scenes featurettes
deleted scenes
audio commentaries on 3 episodes
a feature on Neil Patrick Harris' Hollywood Walk of Fame star.[100]

The Complete Season 8. The Yellow Umbrella Edition
October 1, 2013
September 30, 2013
November 9, 2013
24

Includes:

deleted scenes
audio commentary on "Farmhampton" and "The Final Page"
music video for "PS I Love You"
making of "PS I Love You"
Where We Make Your Mother: Set Tour
a gag reel.

The 9th and Legendary Final Season. The Rest of Your Life Edition[101]
September 23, 2014
October 13, 2014
October 22, 2014
24

Includes:

Deleted Scenes
Audio Commentary on "The Locket"
Audio Commentary on "The Rehearsal Dinner"
Audio Commentary on "How Your Mother Met Me"
Last Forever Alternate Ending
How It All Ends
Cristin Milioti Audition
Behind the Scenes of "Gary Blauman"
Gag Reel[101]

The Whole Story Seasons 1–9[101]
September 23, 2014
October 13, 2014
October 22, 2014
208

Includes:

All Out of Spoilers: Looking Back at Your Mother – A Retrospective
Table Read of the Series Finale with the Entire Cast
The Secret of the Pineapple Incident Revealed
Meeting the Mother
How I Met Your Mother at Comic-Con 2013-2014
The Mosby Kids: 8 Years on the Couch
How We Filmed the Kids
Plus All the Special Features from Every Previous Season[101]

text: Seasons 1 through 9 are available to stream on Netflix in Australia, Latin America, Spain, the UK, Ireland, the US and Canada; season 9 was released on September 26, 2014.[102][103]

text: Note: The whole story DVD had a different package in Region 1 as opposed to Region 2 + 4


document_title: Thor: The Dark World

question_text: who played thors mother in two marvel films

root

text: Thor: The Dark World

text: Plot

text: Eons ago, Bor, father of Odin, clashes with the Dark Elf Malekith, who seeks to unleash a weapon known as the Aether on the nine realms. After conquering Malekith's forces, including enhanced warriors called the Kursed, on their home world of Svartalfheim, Bor safeguards the Aether within a stone column. Unknown to Bor, Malekith as well as his lieutenant Algrim and a handful of Dark Elves escape into suspended animation.

tag: p

text: In present-day Asgard, Loki stands imprisoned for his war crimes on Earth.[N 1] Meanwhile, Thor, alongside warriors Fandral, Volstagg, and Sif, repel marauders on Vanaheim, home of their comrade Hogun; it is the final battle in a war to pacify the Nine Realms following the reconstruction of the Bifröst, the "Rainbow Bridge" between realms, which had been destroyed two years earlier.[N 2] The Asgardians soon learn that the Convergence, a rare alignment of the Nine Realms, is imminent; as the event approaches, portals linking the worlds appear at random.

text: In London, astrophysicist Dr. Jane Foster and her intern Darcy Lewis travel to an abandoned factory where such portals have appeared, disrupting the laws of physics around them. Separating from the group, Foster is teleported to another world, where she is infected by the Aether. Heimdall alerts Thor that Foster has moved beyond his near all-seeing vision, leading Thor to Earth. When Thor finds Foster, she inadvertently releases an unearthly force, and Thor returns with her to Asgard. Odin, recognizing the Aether, warns that the Aether will not only kill Foster but that its return heralds a catastrophic prophecy.

text: Malekith, awakened by the Aether's release, turns Algrim into a Kursed and attacks Asgard. During the battle, Malekith and Algrim search for Foster, sensing that she contains the Aether. Thor's mother Frigga is killed protecting Foster, and Malekith and Algrim are forced to flee without Foster. Despite Odin's orders not to leave Asgard, Thor reluctantly enlists the help of Loki, who knows of a secret portal to Svartalfheim, where they will use Foster to lure and confront Malekith, away from Asgard. In return, Thor promises Loki vengeance on Malekith for killing their mother. With Volstagg and Sif stalling Asgardian soldiers and Fandral assisting their escape, Thor, Loki, and Foster head to Svartalfheim.

text: There, Loki tricks Malekith into drawing the Aether out of Foster, but Thor's attempt to destroy the exposed substance fails. Malekith merges with the Aether and leaves in his ship as Loki is fatally wounded while killing Algrim. Thor, cradling Loki in his arms, promises to tell their father of his sacrifice. Afterward, Thor and Foster discover another portal in a nearby cave and reunite in London with Lewis and Foster's mentor Dr. Erik Selvig—who was briefly institutionalized due to the mental trauma he suffered during Loki's attack on Earth. They learn that Malekith plans to restore the Dark Elves to dominance by unleashing the Aether at the center of the Convergence in Greenwich. Thor battles Malekith through various portals and across multiple worlds until one portal separates them, leaving Malekith unopposed on Earth. Thor returns in time to help his mortal comrades use their scientific equipment to transport Malekith to Svartalfheim, where he is crushed by his own damaged ship.

text: Thor returns to Asgard, where he declines Odin's offer to take the throne and tells Odin of Loki's sacrifice. As he leaves, Odin's form transforms into Loki, who is alive and impersonating Odin.

text: In a mid-credits scene, Volstagg and Sif visit the Collector and entrust the Aether to his care, commenting that with the Tesseract already in Asgard, having two Infinity Stones so close together would be unwise. As they leave, the Collector states his desire to acquire the other five Stones. In a post-credits scene, Foster and Thor reunite on Earth, while somewhere in London, a frost monster from Jotunheim—accidentally transported to Earth during the final battle—continues to run amok.

text: Cast

text:
Chris Hemsworth as Thor: The crown prince of Asgard, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name.[9] Hemsworth stated that the film addresses unresolved issues regarding Thor's relationships from previous films, "For Thor and Jane, there are some unanswered questions now, since obviously he didn't stop in and catch up with her in The Avengers. Thor might have some explaining to do in this one. And with Loki, we get down to the major bones of our conflict with everything that's come from Thor to Avengers to now."[10] Hemsworth added, "Thor's journey I think picks more so up from where we left the first one—About to take on the throne... and now coming to the realization of what responsibility comes with that. Also, Alan [Taylor] keeps talking about the dark side of that responsibility, and the secrets of being king or becoming sort of very political about what people need to know and what they want to know."[11] Hemsworth especially enjoyed the role of Thor in this film as he was able to, "... break him down and find his human qualities and his vulnerable side."[12]
Natalie Portman as Jane Foster: An astrophysicist and Thor's love interest,[13] who is brought from Earth to Asgard by Thor after she is infected with a mysterious energy.[14] Producer Kevin Feige said, "[W]hile Thor was a fish out of water on Earth in the first two films (Thor and The Avengers), this time Jane is very much a fish out of water in Asgard."[15] Portman added, "It was a whole different adventure this time. Because Jane is the fish out of water. I didn't want to make it like Bill & Ted, or like a valley girl dumped into Shakespeareland."[16] Portman also said the film finds Jane at a different place in her life, "Jane has moved, so she's now in London, not in Santa Fe anymore. Obviously she has gone through missing Thor and also being upset at him because he didn't come knock on her door when he was on her planet. She's definitely been getting over that and trying to move on."[17] Hemsworth's wife Elsa Pataky stood in for Portman during the post-credits kissing scene due to a scheduling conflict.[18]
Tom Hiddleston as Loki: Thor's adoptive brother and nemesis, based on the deity of the same name, who forms an uneasy alliance with Thor against the Dark Elves.[19][20][21] On where he wished to take the character in the film, Hiddleston said, "I'd like to take [Loki] to his absolute rock bottom. I'd like to see him yield, essentially, to his darkest instincts. Then, having hit rock bottom, maybe come back up. I think the fascination for me about playing Loki is that, in the history of the mythology and the comic books and the Scandinavian myths, is he's constantly dancing on this fault line of the dark side and redemption."[22] Hiddleston recalled, "When I met Alan [Taylor], he asked me how I thought I could do Loki again without repeating myself and I remembered talking with Kevin Feige when we were on the Avengers promotional tour. I said, 'OK, you've seen Thor and Loki be antagonistic for two films now. It would be amazing to see them fight side by side. I've been the bad guy now twice, so I can't be again, or otherwise I shouldn't be in the film. So we have to find a new role for me to play."[23]
Anthony Hopkins as Odin: The king of Asgard, father of Thor, and adoptive father of Loki, based on the deity of the same name,[24] who disapproves of Jane Foster being in Asgard.[14][15] Regarding Thor's relationship with his father, Hemsworth said, "[T]he conflict between Thor and Odin was so great in the first one... so, certainly they disagree as I think they always will at times but there's a far greater respect from each other. So it becomes, I guess, a more mature conversation, but there's more at stake this time, too. It's not sort of just their individual egos, the whole universe is at stake."[11] As to his approach Hopkins said, "I just play Odin like a human being, with maybe a little more dimension. I grow a beard, look hopefully impressive and keep it as real as possible."[17]
Stellan Skarsgård as Erik Selvig: Foster's mentor and colleague.[25] Skarsgård said, the film finds Selvig in a "disrupted mode" explaining, "Having a god in your head for a while creates some psychological problems", referring to the character's ordeal following The Avengers.[26]
Idris Elba as Heimdall: The all-seeing, all-hearing Asgardian sentry of the Bifröst Bridge, based on the mythological deity of the same name.[27] Elba said he has a larger role in the sequel, "In the new film we're going to get to know Heimdall the Asgardian a bit better, and we're going to get to know Asgard a bit better. I can't say too much, but the expansion of Thor in his world is going to be huge. My part was very small and functional in the first film".[28]
Christopher Eccleston as Malekith: The ruler of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim.[29] About Malekith's motivation, Eccleston said, "There is a kind of tragic quality to his quest. Because he's lost his wife, he's lost his children. He's lost everything. And he returns for revenge. And the agent for his revenge is the Aether. If he gets hold of that, he is omnipotent."[30] Eccleston continued, "What I thought about a great deal was revenge—there's huge amounts of revenge. One quote is: 'When you seek revenge, be sure to dig two graves.' I did a film called Revengers Tragedy where I played a guy called Vindici—from the word 'vindictive'—and he is the distillation of revenge. So, in a way, that was what I had to think of: how revenge can make you absolutely monomaniacal—though you're still trying to make it recognizably motive-led. It's just the personification of movie evil."[23] However Taylor stated that a lot of scenes involving Malekith's backstory had to be cut from the film to make it more efficient.[31] Eccleston revealed that he speaks an invented language for the film explaining, "The Elvish language is definitely based on European languages. I think there’s probably some Finnish in there. It does have its logic and its rhythms. It also has many syllables and it's very difficult to do while remaining naturalistic. It's been a particular challenge for us but hopefully it gives the film some complexity and variety."[17] Eccleston also said the role required six hours of make-up and 45 minutes in wardrobe.[30]
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Algrim / Kurse: A Dark Elf, and Malekith's trusted and loyal lieutenant, who is transformed into a monstrous creature in order to destroy Thor.[32][33] Akinnuoye-Agbaje described Kurse as "an amalgamation of a bull and a lava-like creature. He has very animalistic tendencies but with this insatiable and unstoppable power. As an actor, that's one of the hardest things to embody. You have to realize you are probably the most powerful thing you could imagine. And you have to be that. You can't pretend, so that when you face Thor, it's real."[34] Akinnuoye-Agbaje stated the role required three hours of make-up a day and had to put on heavy duty prosthetics explaining, "The outfit weighed about 40 pounds. I'm sure there will be a certain amount of CGI but a good 80% was me in that suit."[34] About the character Akinnuoye-Agbaje said, "I suppose Algrim and Kurse would be the quintessential baddies, but in reality they are what I perceive as the scorn and the victims of the story. They are the elves who have basically lost their planet and their race to another race, the Asgardians. Here is a man/alien who places a noble objective beyond his own life and I think there is something extremely inspiring about that because he looks at the bigger picture and sees himself as a means to that end." Akinnuoye-Agbaje added, "I worked with director Alan Taylor in trying to maintain Algrim's humanity all the way throughout Kurse's transformation, so that even when you see Kurse the beast, you can still relate to him as being Algrim inside. And symbolically we did that by keeping the same piercing blue eyes throughout."[17]
Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis: A political science major who is interning for Foster.[33][35] Her role in the film was expanded from the comic relief sidekick role she played in the first Thor film.[36] Dennings said her character is "really bad at real science in this first movie. In the second movie, she's more interested, but she still doesn't know anything about it. She loves Jane, she really wants Jane and Thor to be together. It's almost like her own little soap opera that she watches."[35]
Ray Stevenson as Volstagg: A member of the Warriors Three; a group of three Asgardian adventurers who are among Thor's closest comrades, known for both his hearty appetite and wide girth.[37] About the character Stevenson said, "He's got a heart the size of a planet that he wears on his sleeve, so he's like a big kid."[17] Regarding Volstagg's role in this film, Stevenson said, "Volstagg is struggling, he has a brood, they [the Warriors Three] are fighting for hearth and home as much as for the idea of Asgard itself. That's where he has trouble." Explaining, "He's all too aware of how potentially threatening this new enemy is on both the home front and the battlefield."[38]
Zachary Levi as Fandral: A member of the Warriors Three, characterized as an irrepressible swashbuckler and romantic.[39] Levi replaced Joshua Dallas in the role due to Dallas’s commitment on Once Upon a Time. Levi had been up for the role in the first film, but bowed out due to his commitment on Chuck.[40] Levi compared the character to Flynn Rider, the character he played in the animated feature, Tangled, "Fandral is a little similar to Rider in some ways... He's like this Lothario. He's like Errol Flynn. He loves ladies, as do I".[41] Regarding the dynamic of the Warriors Three, Levi said, "The Warriors Three are here to support Thor. We are his confidants, his best friends. We've all grown up together in a lot of ways and fought many a battle together, escaped death. To me it's the way best friends ought to be—they're there when you need to talk and they're there if you don't want to talk, and they're there if you need to escape from your father's place in a flying skiff!"[17]
Tadanobu Asano as Hogun: A member of the Warriors Three, a native of Vanaheim,[26] primarily identified by his grim demeanor.[42]
Jaimie Alexander as Sif: An Asgardian warrior, Thor's childhood friend and Jane Foster's romantic rival, based on the deity of the same name.[15][43] Alexander said there is more character development for Sif and the film explores the Sif-Thor relationship.[44] Alexander elaborated, "I really tried to bring a little bit more vulnerability in this film. Sif is very much in love with Thor and very much cares about his well-being. So she kicks a lot of butt in this movie but she also opens her heart a lot."[17] Alexander suffered a severe back injury while on the set. About the injury, she said, "It was raining, it was dark outside, it was like 5 in the morning—and I went down a metal staircase and slipped and slipped a disc in my thoracic spine and chipped 11 of my vertebrae. I knocked my left shoulder out of place and tore my rhomboid on my right side... It took me out of filming for a month".[45]
Rene Russo as Frigga: The wife of Odin, queen of Asgard, mother of Thor and adoptive mother of Loki, based on the mythological deity of the same name.[46] Russo said that her role was expanded and explores Frigga's relationship with Loki, "You know, they cut me [down] in the first film. Kenneth Branagh sent me a nice note, because he understood, he's an actor. You move on, what are you going to do? But I think they're going to need a good mom in the next film. Loki needs his mom. I have a lot of compassion for [Loki]. But we might have to have a conversation about what he just did".[47]

text: Additionally, Alice Krige portrays Eir, an Asgardian physician.[48] Chris O'Dowd was cast as Richard,[49][50] a suitor of Jane Foster's. Benicio del Toro, who plays the Collector in Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy, appears in a mid-credits scene with Ophelia Lovibond, who plays his aide Carina.[51][52][53][54] Jonathan Howard plays Ian Boothby,[55] Darcy's intern. Tony Curran plays Bor, Odin's father, based on the deity of the same name.[56][57] Clive Russell plays Tyr, based on the deity of the same name.[58] Richard Brake portrays a captain in the Einherjar.[58] Chris Evans makes an uncredited cameo appearance[59] as Loki masquerading as Captain America, while Thor co-creator Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance[60] as a patient in a mental ward.

text: Production

text: Development

text:
"In both cases, it's using the conceit of a fantastical, alien world to make fresh what is really a domestic drama. In Game of Thrones, seeing Tyrion battle with his sister Cersei, seeing the relationships between children and their fathers... It's all the stuff we're interested in at a psychological level because we're living it all the time. But it takes place in this otherwise fantastical, foreign realm. I think the same thing is true in Thor. The brilliant thing Ken Branagh did in launching it was making it very much a story about two brothers, a story about brothers competing for the love of their father. So it's small, confined and human at the same time it's this blown-out, intergalactic world."
—Alan Taylor, director of Thor: The Dark World and several episodes of Game of Thrones[61]

tag: div

text: In April 2011 before the release of Thor (2011), Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige stated that following The Avengers (2012), "Thor will go off into a new adventure."[62] Kenneth Branagh, director of Thor, responded to his comments, saying, "It is kind of news to me. Here's what I would say to that: It's that I'm thrilled they're that confident. I shall wait for the audience to tell us whether there should be a second one, and then if that's a nice conversation to be had [among] all of us, that'd be thrilling. But I've got too much Irish superstitious blood in me to assume that Thor 2 will happen. But if Marvel says so, then I guess it must be true".[63] Feige later explained that Marvel Studios would gauge how well Thor did at the box office before announcing sequels, but stated, "Don Payne is working on story ideas for a part two. We've got various options with Ken [Branagh] to discuss coming back, but right now the focus is on the first one. Don is, slowly but surely, thinking about where to take the character next should we be so lucky".[64]

text: In June 2011, Walt Disney Studios set a July 26, 2013, release date for the Thor sequel with Chris Hemsworth reprising his role as the title hero. It was also reported that Branagh would not be returning as director but would likely be involved in a producing capacity.[9] The Los Angeles Times cited the long commitment necessary for a special effects-heavy epic and the pressure to start the script process right away as reasons for Branagh's departure, although he was initially enthused by the chance to direct the sequel.[65] Branagh noted, "It was a long time [making the first film] and they were way too quick for me to get straight back into another, [but] it was a pleasurable experience and a film I'm very proud of."[66] The following day, Marvel formally hired Payne, one of the credited writers of the first film, to script the sequel.[67] In August, Brian Kirk entered early negotiations to direct the Thor sequel. The film would have marked Kirk's first time directing a big-budget motion picture, after having directed television series for HBO, Showtime and the BBC, including Game of Thrones.[68]

text: In September 2011, Tom Hiddleston confirmed he would return in the sequel, speculating that in the film, "[Loki will] have to take responsibility for what he's done".[19] Patty Jenkins, the director of Monster and the pilot episode of AMC's The Killing, entered early negotiations with Marvel Studios and Disney to direct the film, after Kirk had passed due to contractual sticking points that arose during negotiations.[69] Later in the month, Feige stated the sequel would "take Thor literally to other worlds" and would "primarily be the journey of that character, of he and Jane Foster and how the new dynamic with his father is working out, as well as what are the broader stakes for The Nine Worlds".[70] On October 13, 2011, Marvel confirmed that Jenkins would direct the sequel and Natalie Portman would return to star.[13] Disney also moved the release date for the film to November 15, 2013.[71]

text: Pre-production

text:
"The main difference I have [from Branagh's approach] is really to do with look and tone. Things look really dirty. The first Thor was quite shiny and it was a very conscious, smart choice. When I came in, I wanted to get more of a sense of the Norse mythology: the Viking quality, the texture and weight of the history. He’s a superhero, but he’s been around for thousands of years. His dad is god!"
—Alan Taylor[23]

text: In December 2011, Jenkins exited the project, citing "creative differences".[72] She stated, "I have had a great time working at Marvel. We parted on very good terms, and I look forward to working with them again."[73] Jenkins felt she could not have made a good film "out of Thor 2 because I wasn’t the right director... I could have made a great Thor if I could have done the story that I was wanting to do. But I don’t think I was the right person to make a great Thor out of the story they wanted to do." Jenkins had intended to create a film based on the premise of Romeo and Juliet, where Jane was stuck on Earth with Thor forbidden to come save her. After Thor eventually does travel to Earth, he and Jane would have discovered that Malekith was "hiding the dark energy inside of Earth because he knows that Odin doesn't care about Earth, and so he's using Odin's disinterest in Earth to trick him."[74]

text: Three days later, it was reported that Marvel was looking at Alan Taylor and Daniel Minahan as prospective directors to replace Jenkins, and were also in the midst of hiring a writer to rewrite Don Payne's script, with the shortlist of possible writers consisting of John Collee, Robert Rodat, and Roger Avary.[75] At the end of the month, Alan Taylor, best known for directing episodes of the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones, was chosen to direct the sequel.[76] Feige mentioned Taylor's work on the series Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones as reasons for his hiring, saying "With Alan's direction we got a few more layers of patina, of texture, of reality into our golden realm."[17] By January 10, Marvel Studios had commissioned screenwriter Robert Rodat to rewrite the sequel and Hiddleston stated that filming was expected to begin in London in the summer of 2012.[77][78] Hemsworth later confirmed that filming was scheduled to begin in August.[79][80] Hemsworth also revealed that the film would have a more Viking-influenced feel, elaborating "I think the science fiction element to Thor … the danger is it falls a little bit into the world of it's 'tough to throw a light to.' I think of big waterfalls and mountains and a Viking influence, where the Norse mythology kind of grew from. Having that in Asgard is going to make it all the more special and that's what Alan [Taylor] wants to bring to it."[79] Feige said "while the relationship between Loki and Thor certainly has changed [after the events of the movie The Avengers] and has progressed, a lot of Thor 2 is picking up where it left off in terms of Jane, who you just saw for a moment on a computer monitor, and also what's been going on in the nine realms without the Asgardians being able to use the Bifrost." Feige also said that while Loki has a part, "there will be a different villain, another big villain".[80]

text: In May 2012, Mads Mikkelsen began talks to play one of the villains in the film and Anthony Hopkins, who played Odin in the first film, committed to returning in the sequel.[24][81] At the end of the month, Disney moved up the release date for the film a week ahead of the previous date to November 8, 2013.[82] By June 2012, much of the first film's supporting cast was confirmed to return, including Idris Elba,[27] Jaimie Alexander,[43] Ray Stevenson[37] and Stellan Skarsgård.[25] Also in June, Joshua Dallas announced that he would not be reprising the role of Fandral.[83] Dallas had initially intended to return,[84] but had to bow out due to his commitment on the television show, Once Upon a Time,[83] and Zachary Levi was cast in his place.[39] Levi was originally up for the role in the first film but scheduling conflicts with Chuck forced him to drop out.[40]

text: In July 2012, Mikkelsen stated he would not be appearing in the sequel due to prior commitments, "That's not happening unfortunately. I had a meeting with [the filmmakers], but it was a bit too late and then Hannibal came in...It's just not happening".[85] At the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International, it was announced that the film would be titled Thor: The Dark World.[86] At the end of the month, residents near Bourne Wood in Surrey, England were notified that a film going by the working title, Thursday Mourning would be filming in the area.[87][88] In August of that year, Christopher Eccleston entered final negotiations to play Malekith,[29] and the film was scheduled to shoot in Iceland, where Taylor shot parts of Game of Thrones.[89] By August 22, Kat Dennings was hired to reprise her role as Darcy Lewis and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje was cast as Algrim.[32][36] At the end of the month, film crews for Thursday Mourning began set construction at Stonehenge near Amesbury, England.[90]

text: Filming

text: Principal photography began on September 10, 2012, in Bourne Wood, Surrey, England,[91] under the working title Thursday Mourning.[87][88] A few weeks later, Clive Russell was cast as Tyr, and Richard Brake was cast as an Einherjar captain.[58] At the end of the month, Jaimie Alexander was injured on the London film set, after she slipped while walking in the rain.[92] On October 12, 2012, production moved to Iceland with filming taking place in Dómadalur, Skógafoss, Fjaðrárgljúfur and Skeiðarársandur. Iceland Review described the shoot as being among the most extensive film projects to have ever taken place in Iceland.[93] Three days later, Disney announced that the film would be released in 3D.[94] In late October, filming commenced at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, London.[95] Filming also took place at Shepperton Studios and Longcross Studios in Surrey between October and December 2012.[17][96] Other filming locations included Wembley, Borough Market, Hayes and Stonehenge.[17] Alexander tweeted that principal photography wrapped on December 14, 2012.[97] Disney spent $237.6 million on Thor: The Dark World but $37 million of this was offset by payments from the UK tax authority.[98] A report on actual production costs for films from FilmL.A. Inc., indicated a gross budget of $170 million, with a net of $152.7 million for Thor: The Dark World.[2]

text: Kramer Morgenthau, who worked with Taylor on Game of Thrones, was brought in as the director of photography. Morgenthau said, "We wanted a grittier, boots-on-the-ground feeling, inspired by what Alan and I had done on Game of Thrones. We wanted the realms to feel grounded, like a real place, while at the same time respecting the magical 'planet of the Gods' feeling and theme." Thor: The Dark World was Morgenthau's first time shooting a feature film digitally. For the film, Morgenthau chose the Arri Alexa Plus, although he tested with the Sony F65 but found the Alexa to be more pleasing. In addition to the Alexa, Red Epic and Canon EOS 5D Mark II cameras were used for second unit filming. With the Alexa, Morgenthau used Panavision anamorphic lenses. Morgenthau said, "The lenses brought some of the magic and mystery of photochemical back to digital, that big-movie look." Morgenthau also stated that Thor: The Dark World was easily the most technically complex project that he has worked but said, "It's all the same concept and the same principles as in a smaller film. You just scale it up. You do a lot more prep. We had three months of prep and loads of time to pre-rig stages. Part of it is having a really good crew—it's definitely not a one-man show."[99]

text: Post-production

text: In July 2013, Dennings told reporters that the film was about to head into reshoots.[100] In August, Taylor said he shot extra scenes with Hiddleston and was about to shoot more with Hopkins. Taylor explained that it was all a part of the "Marvel process" saying, "We're doing full scenes, scenes that were not in the movie before. We're adding scenes, creating scenes, writing scenes for the first time. The one [involving Loki] was a fun connective scene... We realised how well Loki was working in the movie, and we wanted to do more with him. So it was that kind of thing, it was like, 'Oh, we could do this, we could jam this in here' because he's such a wonderful guy to watch do his stuff."[101] Also in August, IMAX Corporation and Marvel Entertainment announced that the film would be digitally re-mastered into the IMAX 3D format and released into IMAX 3D theatres internationally beginning October 30, 2013.[102]

text: Taylor said Marvel's The Avengers writer/director Joss Whedon rewrote several scenes in the film explaining, "Joss came in to save our lives a couple of times. We had a major scene that was not working on the page at all in London, and he basically got airlifted in, like a SWAT team or something. He came down, rewrote the scene, and before he got back to his plane I sort of grabbed him and said, 'And this scene and this scene?' And he rewrote two other scenes that I thought had problems."[103] In October 2013, Tony Curran tweeted that he would be portraying Odin's father, Bor, in a flashback sequence.[56][57] In November 2013, Feige stated that the film was intended to be the conclusion of the "Loki trilogy", which examined the relationship of Thor and Loki throughout Thor, The Avengers and this film.[104] The film's mid-credits scene was directed by James Gunn, the director of Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy.[51][105]

text: The film's visual effects were completed by seven special effects studios, including Double Negative and Luma Pictures.[106] Blur Studio was the lead studio behind the film's prologue sequence taking place 5,000 years before the start of the film, on the Dark Elves homeworld of Svartalfheim. The sequence consisted mostly of computer graphics with live-action shots interwoven throughout. The use of CG allowed for greater freedom of movement by the characters as the live-action costumes were too constrictive.[107]

text: Taylor wanted Asgard in this film to have a more natural look than its predecessor. To achieve this, crews filmed the coast of Norway with an Arri Alexa camera for three days in a helicopter, capturing six hours of footage. Double Negative then embedded their CG rendering of Asgard on shots of the natural landscape. Double Negative visual effects supervisor Alex Wuttke said, "The benefit of that is that you have some real world terrain to work with – so you have buildings that have to convey natural features. Then from there we went in there populating the terrain with different buildings."[107] For scenes taking place on Svartalfheim, production filmed in Iceland with Double Negative adding ruins, mountains, Dark Elf ships, and skies.[107]

text: For the shot of the levitating truck, which was used in the film to demonstrate the strange phenomena brought on by the coming of the alignment of the worlds, filmmakers attached a cement truck to a large hydraulic rig, which could be programmed to change speed and movement.[107] In order to create Algrim's transformation into Kurse, Double Negative morphed live action performances of Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as both Algrim and Kurse. Double Negative then added in smoke and lava-like effects.[107]

text: The film's climatic battle sequence takes place through the nine worlds by the use of portals. Visual effects supervisor Jake Morrison said, "We ended up calling this 'time toffee', so as you punch through from one realm to another it's almost like cling film or a slightly gelatinous membrane you have to pass through. It bends a little bit then rips and spits the person out. The other thing we wanted to do was to make sure it was quite fast from an editorial point of view. In the fight scenes there are times when Thor and Malekith are portaling all over the place, quite frankly. We made sure we always kept up the momentum and never stopped the fight. It was a way of making sure the audience weren't conscious there was an effect going on."[107]

text: Music

text: In August 2012, Patrick Doyle said that he had discussions with the director about potentially returning to score the film.[108] By April 2013, Carter Burwell had been hired to compose the score,[109] but by the following month he left the film over creative differences.[110] In June 2013, Marvel hired Brian Tyler, who scored Iron Man 3, to replace Burwell.[111] Tyler said the previous film had an "attitude and [was] grounded in limitations" whereas the Thor film allowed for "all-out regal themes that could be as epic as I could make them." The composer described The Dark World as "science fiction meeting classic medieval war", leading to a score that drew from works of both genres such as Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings.[112] Azam Ali is a featured vocalist on the score.[113] The soundtrack was released digitally on October 28, 2013.[114]

text: Release

text: The world premiere of Thor: The Dark World took place on October 22, 2013, at the Odeon Leicester Square in London.[115][116] The film was released theatrically in the UK eight days later, on October 30.[117] The film held its North American premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, and was released into U.S. theaters on November 7, 2013.[118]

text: Marketing

text: In March 2013, Marvel announced the release of a two-issue comic book prelude by writers Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost and artist Scot Eaton in June 2013.[119] In April 2013, Marvel released the first trailer for Thor: The Dark World. Forbes said, "This trailer fits nicely into that larger marketing push for Marvel's brand. It puts all of the recognizable characters from the first film front and center, presents the action as a team event reminiscent of the Avengers, and once again Loki—who was quite popular with audiences—makes an appearance."[120] The Los Angeles Times said, "Evident throughout the trailer is director Alan Taylor's influence; the Game of Thrones director's hand can be seen in the battle sequences, and Asgard—a bright and shiny kingdom under Thor director Kenneth Branagh—seems grittier in the sequel."[121] In July at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International, Hiddleston introduced footage from the film to audiences in character as Loki.[122] Also in July, Gameloft announced that a mobile video game titled, Thor the Dark World: The Official Game, would be released in conjunction with the release of the film in November.[123]

text: The theatrical poster for the film was released in early August 2013. Kirsten Acuna of Business Insider criticized the poster for its lack of originality, noting its similarities to one of the posters of Iron Man 3, both of which included the female lead clinging to the male lead, with both looking in opposite directions, antagonists prominently displayed in the background and supporting characters featured "on the side".[124] Additionally, Marvel released a second trailer for the film as part of YouTube's Geek Week.[125] Forbes said, "this 150-second trailer is basically just an extended version of last April's 106-second teaser" and that "this trailer fails to showcase what's new this time around... making audiences question if they really don't have much else to offer."[126] The Los Angeles Times said, that the trailer suggests "an ominous, epic scale for the sequel" and that "the collaboration between Thor and Loki promises to be especially interesting."[21] Later in the month, producer Kevin Feige and cast members Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins presented additional footage at Disney's D23 Expo.[127]

text: Also in August 2013, Disney announced plans to promote the film with an attraction at Disneyland.[128] The attraction called Thor: Treasures of Asgard, located next to the Stark Industries exhibit inside Innoventions in Tomorrowland, opened on November 1, 2013 and features displays of Asgardian relics and transports guests to Odin's throne room, where they are greeted by Thor.[129] The eighth episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., titled "The Well", takes place in the aftermath of the events of Thor: The Dark World. It first aired on November 19, 2013.[130] Jaimie Alexander reprised her role as Sif in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode "Yes Men", which aired on March 11, 2014.[131]

text: Home media

text: Thor: The Dark World was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment for digital download on February 4, 2014, and on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on February 25, 2014. The physical media release includes deleted scenes, extended scenes, a gag reel, audio commentary by the cast and crew, and a Marvel One-Shot short film entitled All Hail the King,[132] featuring Ben Kingsley reprising his role as Trevor Slattery from Iron Man 3.[133]

text: The film was also collected in a 13-disc box set, titled "Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two Collection", which includes all of the Phase Two films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was released on December 8, 2015.[134]

text: Reception

text: Box office

text: Thor: The Dark World earned $206.4 million in North America and $438.2 million in other markets for a worldwide total of $644.6 million.[4] It surpassed the gross of its predecessor after just 19 days of its release.[135] Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $139.4 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film.[136]

text: Thor: The Dark World made an estimated $7.1 million in Thursday night showings, more than double the midnight gross of its predecessor.[137] On Friday, November 7, 2013, the film topped the box office with $31.9 million (including Thursday night earnings), which is 25% higher than the original film's opening-day gross.[138] Through Sunday, the film remained at the No. 1 spot with $85.7 million, which is a 30% increase over its predecessor's opening weekend.[139] This was the largest November opening for a film distributed by Disney, surpassing The Incredibles.[140] Thor: The Dark World topped the box office in North America during its first two weekends,[141] before being overtaken by The Hunger Games: Catching Fire in its third weekend.[142]

text: On its midweek opening day of Wednesday, October 30, 2013, Thor: The Dark World earned $8.2 million from 33 territories,[143] including the UK and France, where it opened higher than its predecessor.[144] During its first three days, the film earned $45.2 million,[145] and by the end of the weekend, after expanding into three more territories, it totaled $109.4 million over five days, finishing in first place in all 36 countries.[145] Its largest openings were recorded in China ($21.0 million), the UK, Ireland and Malta ($13.8 million) and France and the Maghreb region ($9.94 million). It topped the box office outside North America on its first three weekends of release.[141] In total earnings, its largest markets are China ($55.3 million), Russia and the CIS ($35.4 million) and the UK, Ireland and Malta ($31.4 million).[146]

text: Critical response

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 66% approval rating with an average rating of 6.2/10 based on 256 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "It may not be the finest film to come from the Marvel Universe, but Thor: The Dark World still offers plenty of the humor and high-stakes action that fans have come to expect."[147] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 54 out of 100 based on 44 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[148] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an "A-" average, based on a grading scale ranging from A+ to F.[139]

text: Ben Child of The Guardian said, "Thanks to Hiddleston and Hemsworth's impressive collective charisma, Thor: The Dark World is far from a franchise killer."[149] Justin Chang of Variety wrote, "This robust, impersonal visual-effects showpiece proves buoyant and unpretentious enough to offset its stew of otherwise derivative fantasy/action elements."[150] Alonso Duralde of The Wrap said, "Thor: The Dark World delivers the goods—action, otherworldly grandiosity, romance, humor—above and beyond its predecessor".[151] Simon Abrams, writing for RogerEbert.com said, "There's just enough tension and humor in Thor: The Dark World to make the film's otherwise listless proceedings worth watching, but only just."[152] Echoing other critics' sentiments, Frank Lovece of Film Journal International wrote, "Is it wrong that the best relationship in Thor: The Dark World is between the titular Norse-god superhero and his adoptive brother Loki? To take nothing away from Oscar-winner Natalie Portman, ... it's the complicated love-hate between Thor and the trickster god Loki that you can't turn your eyes from."[153]

text: Conversely, Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph said, "It feels entirely made by committee—the definition of house style, without a personal stamp in sight."[154] Leslie Felperin of The Hollywood Reporter said, "Although director Alan Taylor manages to get things going properly for the final battle in London, the long stretches before that on Asgard and the other branches of Yggdrasil are a drag, like filler episodes of Game of Thrones but without the narrative complexity, mythical heft or all-pervading sexiness."[155] Michael Phillips of the Los Angeles Times described Thor: The Dark World as having the "same old threats of galaxy annihilation spiced with fairly entertaining fish-out-of-water jokes".[156] Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times said, "the battle scenes are as lacking in heat and coherence as the central love story".[157]

text: Accolades

text: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences placed Thor: The Dark World on its shortlist of potential nominees for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects but ultimately did not nominate it.[158]

text:
Year

Award

Category

Recipient

Result

Ref.

2014

IGN Best of 2013

Best Comic Book Adaptation Movie

Thor: The Dark World

Nominated

[159]

People's Choice Awards

Favorite Year-End Movie

Thor: The Dark World

Nominated

[160]

ABFF Hollywood Awards

Artist of the Year

Idris Elba (also for Pacific Rim and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom)

Nominated

[161]

Empire Awards

Best Supporting Actor

Tom Hiddleston

Nominated

[162]

Saturn Awards

Best Comic-To-Film Motion Picture

Thor: The Dark World

Nominated

[163]

Best Supporting Actor

Tom Hiddleston

Nominated

Best Costume

Wendy Partridge

Nominated

Best Make-Up

Karen Cohen / David White / Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou

Nominated

Best Special / Visual Effects

Jake Morrison / Paul Corbould / Mark Breakspear

Nominated

MTV Movie Awards

Best Shirtless Performance

Chris Hemsworth

Nominated

[164]

Best Hero

Chris Hemsworth

Nominated

Favorite Character

Loki

Nominated

Golden Trailer Awards

Best Action TV Spot

Thor: The Dark World

Nominated

[165]

BET Awards

Best Actor

Idris Elba (also for Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom)

Nominated

[166]

Teen Choice Awards

Choice Movie: Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Thor: The Dark World

Nominated

[167]

Choice Movie Actor: Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Chris Hemsworth

Nominated

Choice Movie Actress: Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Natalie Portman

Nominated

tag: table

text: Sequel

text: Thor: Ragnarok was released on November 3, 2017,[168] directed by Taika Waititi.[169] Eric Pearson and Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost wrote the screenplay,[170] with Kevin Feige again producing.[171] Hemsworth, Hiddleston, Hopkins, Elba, Asano, Levi, and Stevenson reprise their roles as Thor, Loki, Odin, Heimdall, Hogun, Fandral, and Volstagg, respectively,[172][173][169][174][175] while Mark Ruffalo and Benedict Cumberbatch appear as Bruce Banner / Hulk and Doctor Strange respectively, reprising their roles from previous MCU films.[176][177] Cate Blanchett, Tessa Thompson, Jeff Goldblum and Karl Urban join the cast as Hela, Valkyrie, Grandmaster, and Skurge, respectively.[169]

text: Notes

text:
Jump up ^ As depicted in the 2012 film The Avengers. The events of Thor: The Dark World are set a year after the events of The Avengers.[8]

Jump up ^ As depicted in the 2011 film Thor.

tag: ol