<P> Thor: The Dark World premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on October 22, 2013, and was released on November 8, 2013, in the United States . The film received mixed reviews, with many praising its visual effects, and others considering it the weakest of the MCU films, but was a commercial success, grossing over $644 million worldwide and making it the 10th highest - grossing film of 2013 . A third film, Thor: Ragnarok, was released on November 3, 2017 . </P> <P> 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 . </P> <P> In present - day Asgard, Loki stands imprisoned for his war crimes on Earth . 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 . 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 . </P> <P> 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 . </P>

When does thor the dark world take place