It’s not uncommon for scenes to wind up on the cutting-room floor during the editing process, and now Thor: The Dark World star Christopher Eccleston has revealed what we’ll be missing when we check out Marvel’s latest flick this weekend.

Eccleston (Doctor Who), who plays big baddie Malekith, opened up to Crave Online about all of the Dark Elf-related content that didn’t make the cut into the final version of the film. Some early reviews have complained that Malekith comes off as a one-note villain, but it sounds like he originally had a boatload of backstory — we just won’t get to see it.

From Malekith’s lost family to his grudge with Odin’s father, it sounds like there’s some pretty cool stuff that was shed to make room for more Thor and Loki shenanigans. Not that we’re complaining (we love Tom Hiddleston as much as the next guy), but it’s sad to think these scenes might never see the light of day.

Here’s an excerpt from Eccleston’s interview:

“Well, the first conversation with Alan [Taylor] was about how he wanted to avoid ‘the cackling fiend.’ Alan spoke to me a lot about the Dark Elves’ sense of their own gravitas and aristocracy, and their ancientness. He wanted them to have a sense of entitlement and bearing. He wanted them regal, you know, that they felt that they were the superior beings of the Nine Realms. And of course, as in any film, the script that we shot is not the script that people see. There were various scenes in there, which for whatever reason didn’t make the final cut, which shaded in Malekith’s background. So even though the audience don’t hear about it, I’m hoping that it’s still present in the performance… There was a scene where Malekith was in a certain area of Svartalfheim and remembering his children, his wife and children bathing there, and they had been lost to him. And some of the actions of Odin’s father, Bor, also. There was an extended scene with Anthony Hopkins where they discussed what had caused this ancient grievance between The Dark Elves and themselves. That kind of material. More character-related, yeah.”

Yeah, that all sounds pretty cool. But considering this is the story of Thor (and not Malekith), it makes sense that these character moments would be the first to go when it came time to tighten up the cut and get the running time down to a reasonable level.

For his part, director Alan Taylor didn’t sound too happy about having to slice those scenes. Here’s how he described the editing process:

“I think it’s always the case with these big movies that that happens, and it’s painful to me because I absolutely love, love, love, love a lot of the stuff that fell by the wayside. Some of it was Malekith. You saw a lot more into the relationship between him and Algrim. You saw a lot more of what was driving him personally. And as I mentioned already there was a lot more with the kids, you saw them explore these fantastical events that were going on. Yeah, that’s excruciating. Whether it’s whole scenes that are dropped or whether it’s beats or lines or moments that fall away in the drive to make it faster, tighter, funnier, quicker, more efficient, so yeah, that’s the excruciating thing. I think if there was a director’s cut it would be that much different. Maybe someday. Maybe someday if I become such a huge success later on in life I can come back and do it.”

A darker, director’s cut of Thor: The Dark World? Umm, yes please.

What do you think? Do you wish some of these scenes had made the cut?

(Via Crave Online)