Our favorite Avenger and possibly one of the cutest Marvel heroes is back in “Thor: The Dark World,” the eighth installation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In 2011 moviegoers were introduced to actor Chris Hemsworth as the extremely powerful – and sometimes arrogant – Thor God of Thunder.

In the first movie, Thor’s father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) cast Thor out of his home of Asgard and he found himself living amongst humans on Earth, where he made a name for himself as a powerful defender.

In the 2012 film “The Avengers,” Thor appears alongside other Marvel heroes: Iron Man, Captain America, The Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye to defeat Thor’s brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and his accomplices. After they complete their mission together, Thor returns home to Asgard to help settle the drama and chaos surrounding the Nine Realms and prepares to take over the throne from his father Odin.

In the sequel “Thor: The Dark World,” viewers are reintroduced to the god Thor two years after his initial battle in “Thor.”

Instead of staying focused on the task at hand, Thor often finds himself thinking of and watching over his past love interest Jane (Natalie Portman) as she remains on earth.

Soon, Jane finds herself infected by the powerful weapon known as the Aether – pronounced ee-ther – after she and her assistant Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) accidentally get Jane sucked out of London and into another world.

We come to find out Aether was hidden from creatures known as Dark Elves thousands of years ago when they tried to send the universe into darkness.

Unfortunately, Jane’s activation of the weapon awakens the vengeful leader of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim, Malekith (Christopher Eccleston), who escaped the original battle and has been awaiting another opportunity to get the job done.

With trouble ahead, Thor cannot resist returning to earth and trying to save Jane.

As he seeks the help of his fellow Asgardians, and desperately recruits his imprisoned brother Loki as his wingman, the group searches to find a way to save the Nine Realms as well as their Asgard kingdom from extinguishing; a new plot-thickening battle is on the rise.

Aside from the action-packed battle scenes, viewers are also entertained by sibling rivalry, comical banter amongst characters and the continued romance between Thor and Jane.

With so many Marvel films released and many more to come, it is difficult to determine where “Thor: The Dark World” may fit in, but one thing for sure is it will not disappoint the dedicated Marvel fans and may even enlist some new ones.

Anisca Miles can be reached at [email protected]