Christopher Eccleston has promised to return as 'Thor' villain Malekith - as long as he gets to work with the team behind 'Thor: Ragnarok'.

Christopher Eccleston

Christopher Eccleston

The former 'Doctor Who' star played the evil Dark Elf in 2013's 'Thor: The Dark World' and he is up for reprising that role as long as long as Taika Waititi was in the director's chair and writers Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle and Christopher L. Yost were responsible for the plot.

Speaking at New York Comic Con, he said: "If it was the guy(s) who wrote the third ... I'll do that."

The 55-year-old actor previously claimed that making the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie - the second standalone 'Thor' film - had been a "miserable experience" because of the hours and hours he had to spend in the make-up chair to get ready for his fantastical role.

He said: "I was in make-up for six, seven hours every day - they didn't tell me that up front, so I wasn't pleased about that."

Eccleston has nothing but praise for his co-star Chris Hemsworth - who portrays Thor in the MCU - and director Alan Taylor.

He added: "That was a miserable experience and a dreadful performance, but I loved working with Alan - he's a great director.

"And Hemsworth was fantastic. A generous actor who really had his feet on the ground."

Eccleston also criticised the film for its "lack of humour" but realises that a lot of fans love the movie so he tries to be "diplomatic" about his experience.

He said: "I know that people love the film, and some of you actually like Malekith the naughty elf, and I accept that and I'm careful about it. I'm so diplomatic about it these days."

Waititi, 44, is returning to the 'Thor' franchise for the fourth movie, 'Thor: Love and Thunder', which will see Natalie Portman return as Jane Foster who will take on the mantle of a female incarnation of Thor in a storyline that comes from the pages of the Marvel Comics.