Loki Was Originally Supposed To Die in ‘Thor: The Dark World’, But Why Did Marvel Execs Change Their Minds?
Loki has been one of the most enduring characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Portrayed by Tom Hiddleston, the God of Mischief has been in Thor, The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame, and now has his very own show premiering June 9 on Disney+.
Even though Loki has been present in most Marvel movies, the popular character wasn’t initially supposed to survive beyond Thor: The Dark World. However, Marvel’s producers changed their minds about Loki’s fate after they received some crucial information.
Tom Hiddleston was shocked Marvel’s producers had big plans for Loki
Hiddleston has starred in more Marvel movies than most actors but assures he had no idea he was going to be a mainstay in the MCU. During a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, he admitted that he was both surprised and excited when Marvel producers told him he’d been added to the Avengers cast before Thor had even begun filming.
“I was like, ‘Excuse me?’ Because [Kevin Feige] was already three, four steps ahead,” said Hiddleston. “That took me a few minutes to process, because I didn’t quite realize how it just suddenly had a scope. And being cast as Loki, I realized, was a very significant moment for me in my life, and was going to remain. The creative journey was going to be so exciting.”
Loki was originally supposed to get killed off in ‘Thor: The Dark World’, but plans changed
After the release of Avengers, Loki had become one of the most popular characters among Marvel fans. Despite his status as a fan favorite, Marvel producers had planned to kill Loki off in 2013’s Thor: The Dark World.
However, the studio changed its mind because test audiences refused to believe Loki died fighting the Dark Elves. Loki hung around for several subsequent Marvel films but was killed in the opening moments of Infinity War.
‘Loki’ was created after Disney’s CEO requested original content for Disney+
Around the time Avengers: Endgame was in production, former Disney CEO Bob Iger consulted Feige about producing original content for their new streaming platform, Disney+. This led to Feige developing an idea for Loki to have his own show.
“I think the notion that we had left this hanging loose end with Loki gave us the in for what a Loki series could be. So by the time [Endgame] came out, we did know where it was going,” Feige said.
Tom Hiddleston is excited for fans to see new parts of Loki
Now that Loki is set to premiere in coming weeks, Hiddleston is excited for fans to see his character return to the screen. According to him, the show will explore never-before-seen layers of Loki’s personality.
“I love this idea [of] Loki’s chaotic energy somehow being something we need. Even though, for all sorts of reasons, you don’t know whether you can trust him. You don’t know whether he’s going to betray you. You don’t why he’s doing what he’s doing,” Hiddleston said. “If he’s shapeshifting so often, does he even know who he is? And is he even interested in understanding who he is? Underneath all those masks, underneath the charm and the wit, which is kind of a defense anyway, does Loki have an authentic self? Is he introspective enough or brave enough to find out? I think all of those ideas are all in the series — ideas about identity, ideas about self-knowledge, self-acceptance, and the difficulty of it.”
