User:Boycool42/Erik Selvig

Erik Selvig, Ph.D. is a fictional character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which crosses over several Marvel Studios superhero films. Selvig first appeared as the mentor of Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) in Kenneth Branagh's 2011 film Thor, where he was portrayed by Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård. Skarsgård is also reported to star as Selvig in Joss Whedon's 2012 film The Avengers.

Thor
In Thor, Odin (Anthony Hopkins), the king of Asgard, punishes his disobedient son Thor (Chris Hemsworth) by stripping him of his godly power and exiling him to Earth as a mortal, accompanied by his hammer Mjolnir — the source of his power, now protected by an enchantment to allow only the worthy to wield it. Thor lands in New Mexico, where astrophysicist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), her assistant Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings), and mentor Dr. Erik Selvig are researching a dimensional anomaly. While Jane and Darcy do not initially believe the things Thor tells them about his identity, Selvig recognizes them as the stories he heard as a child.

Meanwhile, the local populace finds Mjolnir, which S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) soon commandeers before forcibly acquiring Jane's data about the Bifröst, the wormhole that delivered Thor to Earth. Selvig explains to Jane the danger of opposing S.H.I.E.L.D., citing the story of one of his acquaintances: Bruce Banner, a pioneer in gamma radiation who disappeared after confronting the government in Louis Leterrier's 2008 film The Incredible Hulk. Thor, having discovered Mjolnir's nearby location, seeks to retrieve it from the facility that S.H.I.E.L.D. quickly constructed but he finds himself unable to lift the hammer, and is captured. With Selvig's help, Thor is freed and resigns himself to exile on Earth, disobeying Selvig's order not to become romantically involved with Jane.

Later, when Thor's brother and newly self-appointed king Loki (Tom Hiddleston) sends the Destroyer, a seemingly indestructible automaton, to kill Thor, Thor sacrifices himself to save the lives of his old and new friends. However, this sacrifices proves Thor worthy to wield Mjolnir, restoring his powers. This enables him to defeat the Destroyer, return to Asgard, and stop Loki, ultimately resulting in Loki falling into an abyss and Odin returning to power. On Earth, Jane and her team search for a way to open a portal to Asgard.

In a post-credits scene directed by The Avengers director Joss Whedon, Selvig has been taken to a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, where S.H.I.E.L.D. leader Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) asks him to study a glowing cube-shaped device, which Fury says may hold limited power. An invisible Loki whispers to Selvig to agree, which he does.

The Avengers
Skarsgård reprise his role as Selvig in Joss Whedon's 2012 film The Avengers. He, along with Clint Barton and other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, is telepathically manipulated by Loki. He uses the Tesseract to transport the Chitauri to New York City. However, he is freed from Loki's control and informs Black Widow that the portal can be disabled with Loki's spear.

Development
Stellan Skarsgård's casting in Thor was confirmed on October 5, 2009. Skarsgård stated that he was not initially familiar with Thor. As to why he took the part, Skarsgård remarked, I "chose Thor because of [director] Kenneth Branagh. The script was nice and we got to rehearse and talk to the writers and do some collaborating in the process to make it fit us. So I had a very happy time on it. What I always try to do is immediately do something I just haven't done so I get variation in my life. I've made about 90 films and if I did the same thing over and over again I would be bored by now. I try to pick different films, I go and do those big ones and having done that I can usually afford to go and do some really small obscure films and experiment a little".