A Forgotten Thor Villain Was Actually Tougher than Thanos
Many fans consider Thor: The Dark World as one of the weakest films in the MCU. Sure, it did have some cool moments, and quite a few future set ups with Erik Selvig’s chalk board. But it was still weak, and that’s largely due to the villains of the film. Malekith was surely the main culprit of the villains’ problem that the MCU faced in its initial phases. And then there was Kurse, who was another forgettable villain in the MCU.
It’s not that these villains didn’t present a big enough challenge for Thor. It’s just that they were too average, and rather poorly written. But yea, there’s one point that I would like to make about Kurse. He was physically tougher than Thanos himself.
Now, I’m not saying that he was a better warrior than Thanos. The Mad Titan is probably the smartest and the strongest fighters of the galaxy. Look what he did to Captain America, Thor and Iron Man even without the Infinity Stones. He was next to unbeatable. But the Avengers were able to get in a few lethal kicks and punches. In fact, they might have been successful if even one of their hits at Thanos’ heads would have landed. But the same cannot be said for Kurse. He was sturdy from head to toe!
Algrim the Dark Elf empowered himself with a Kurse stone, which gave himself a crazy upgrade. He could have surely given Thanos a run for his money. When Thor summoned the Mjolnir to land a hit on Kurse, the Dark Elf monster just smashed the hammer miles away. His power was actually superior to the worthiness enchantment as he significantly changed the direction of Mjolnir with a single backhand strike.
Compared to Kurse, when Thanos was struck by the Mjolnir a few times, the blows were quite impactful and even lethal for him. Sure, he was able to get the upper hand in the longer run due to his durability. But Kurse was even more durable in battle. When Loki put a sword through his chest, it literally had no effect on him. When Thor plunged his axe into Thanos’ chest, the result was catastrophic for the purple Titan. Thor almost won.
Before declaring a winner, I’d say that Kurse and Thanos had quite a few things common. Both of them were tough and were empowered by certain stones. Both of them killed a member of Thor’s family along with a few Asgardians. And both of them were able to give Thor the beatdown of a life time. But, the only category where Kurse could not thrive was with his awareness during battle. Thanos only bodes to be a superior fighter because he is much smarter. He has his brain to complement his brawn. Where Thanos saw right through Loki’s act, Kurse was totally outsmarted by the God of Mischief, leading to his fatal demise. That’s why he did not have a big impact in the MCU, while Thanos totally did!
Still, we have to say that Kurse could have been a tough villain for the Avengers to beat with all that muscle power. Imagine what he could have done in Thanos’ army.
