Never has there been a supposed villain who is so polarizing. He can go from villainy to charming rogue at the snap of the fingers (probably not the best metaphor at this time). This strange dichotomy makes Loki one of the most intriguing characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. During a recent ACE Comic Con appearance, Hiddleston was asked if he believes that the character had finally found a manner of redemption before facing his ultimate demise by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War.
The thing is, he is redeemed. I found it very touching because Loki, as a character, has been so broken for so long. I think the center of him has been very fragile and very isolated after those traumatic events in the first film when he finds out that he was adopted. Not only was he adopted, but that his father had left him to die, so he has internalized that shame of being abandoned and being alone.
It shouldn’t really come as a surprise that those kinds of feelings of rejection might serve as his personal motivations for becoming a villain. This ultimately would put the whole of humanity in his crosshairs when he first allied himself with Thanos during the attack on New York in Marvel’s The Avengers. Hiddleston would explain;
All of that shame has turned into something harder and angrier, which is why he becomes the villain he becomes. He comes down to earth, he tries to subjugate it, he becomes a villain, in every sense of the word. He’s motivated by hatred and anger. Then he loses his mother and he’s still not self-aware, in that way.
Hiddleston then said that it was during Thor Ragnarok where Loki found his ultimate heroism. Although one might question that considering he took the time to steal the tesserack on his way to Surtur’s crown. Baby steps I suppose. He explained how the death of Odin proved to be a big moment.
And it’s only losing his father, who calls him one of his sons–Odin includes him, he says, ‘Oh my sons,’ at the beginning of Ragnarok–and the chaos of another sibling, Hela, turning up and Thor and Loki have to join forces, and Thor really gets through to Loki in that, so to have it all come full circle and for Loki call himself an Odinson, to really identify with that, to identify with the strength of his father’s love before saving his brother, I found really touching.
Well whether Loki found some form of redemption will be left to the Marvel historians if you don’t take Mr. Hiddleston’s interpretation as canon. One thing is for certain, his character met his apparent demise with a crushing finality. Whether or not this is actually the end of the character is up in the air, especially since he is supposed to be getting his own series on the Disney Play streaming service.
Do you feel that Loki found redemption like Tom Hiddleston believes he did? Will Loki find his way back to the world of the living as he has in the past? Share your Loki forecast with us at GVNation.
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 50 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove head first over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 18 year old boy with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
