In Thor, astrophysicist Erik Selvig works with Jane Foster, the daughter of a former colleague of his, on her wormhole research. They become involved in an encounter between Thor and S.H.I.E.L.D., leading to his employment by the latter to study the Tesseract—he accepts the job due to influence by Loki. In The Avengers, Loki uses the Tesseract to travel to Earth, and places Selvig under the control of the Mind Stone. Selvig is eventually freed of this control and able to help stop Loki's invasion of Earth, but is left traumatized by his experience. Selvig is able to help Thor again in Thor: The Dark World, and by Avengers: Age of Ultron appears to have recovered, working at Royal Holloway. After the defeat of Ultron, Selvig begins working for the Avengers. When Thanos snapped his fingers, and half the universe's population were disintegrated, Selvig was among those who were killed, and were subsequently resurrected by Bruce Banner five years later. In Spider-Man Far From Home, Selvig is shown to be starring in the documentary NOVA: Einstein Rosen Bridges with Dr. Erik Selvig.
Tie-in comics
Selvig appears in the MCU tie-in comics The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week and Thor: The Dark World Prelude in the same capacity as he does in the films.
Concept and creation
In October 2009, Stellan Skarsgård joined the cast of Thor, which was written by Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz, and Don Payne; Skarsgård signed a five-film deal with Marvel. His character Erik Selvig appears in the post-credits scene at the end of Thor, which was directed by The Avengers director Joss Whedon. This set up Selvig's role in that film. After also appearing in Thor: The Dark World and Avengers: Age of Ultron, Skarsgård noted in February 2015 that he had one more Marvel film in his deal, that he would not be appearing in ', and that he possibly could appear in another Avengers film. Although his character didn't actually physically appear in ', his picture is shown as one of the victims who were killed by Thanos with his actions in Avengers: Infinity War.
During the 2016 "" storyline that ran in the comic books published by Marvel Comics, the Earth-616 version of Dr. Erik Selvig made his debut. He is a Danish doctor and undercover Hydra Agent within S.H.I.E.L.D. who is positioned in the gated community of Pleasant Hill. He and Baron Helmut Zemo are teleported to the Himalayas by Kobik. Selvig is later revealed to have been converted to Hydra by Kobik, and later sacrifices himself in an attempt to protect her from Steve Rogers.
