Marvel Studios is in a great place in terms of getting fans hyped for upcoming projects with four Disney+ shows and four movies debuting between June and December. The next of these entries is coming soon with Tom Hiddleston's Loki, putting the God of Mischief center stage in his own Disney+ solo series.
Disney+ is finding a way to expand on stories for characters that already have an extensive MCU history, which is very much the case with Loki. This series gives Marvel the opportunity to work with Hiddleston who has perfected his character portrayal since first appearing in 2011's Thor alongside costar Chris Hemsworth.
According to the major players of Loki behind the scenes, this came as a huge help in constructing his first solo adventure.
LOKI RETURNS FOR MORE INSANITY
In the Summer 2021 issue of Disney’s D23 Magazine obtained by The Direct, Loki director Kate Herron and star Tom Hiddleston spoke about working together and setting expectations for what fans will see in the Disney+ series.
Herron described Hiddleston as "an amazing collaborator," calling it "a joy" to make a project with "someone who’s been crafting his character for now over a decade." The head writer spoke about her leading man being "completely open to pushing this character to new places" and exploring ideas that fans "haven’t seen before:"
“Tom was an amazing collaborator, because it was such a joy getting to work with someone who’s been crafting his character for now over a decade. But at the same time, he was completely open to pushing this character to new places, showing sides of him we haven’t seen before, and putting him in situations we haven’t seen before.”
Herron also added that the team's biggest challenge was to find a way to “subvert expectations of what people think they’re going to see from Loki.“
Hiddleston praised Herron's work, speaking on how the director "really defends these characters" and has made a world with high stakes where "Loki and the other characters all feel things very intensely." Acknowledging the change that Loki has gone through, Hiddleston is genuinely excited to see that the themes of the show "are a bit extraordinary:"
"Kate really defends these characters and has created a world where Loki and the other characters all feel things very intensely, and the stakes for them are very high. Through that soulful journey, they are able to change. Change starts with actually acknowledging who you are, acknowledging your mistakes, acknowledging your past, and making peace with that. Then you actually move forward. And with a character like Loki, those themes are a bit extraordinary."
Herron continued to discuss how fun Loki can be, especially with him being "full of contradictions." Describing his "facetiousness," she talked about how lovable he is in certain situations he finds himself in:
“The fun thing about Loki is that, in a weird way, he can be full of contradictions. We’ve seen him at his most villainous in Avengers. But at the same time, you’ve got to love him when he’s like ‘I’ll have that drink now.’ Isn’t that what we all want to say in that situation? There’s a facetiousness, but there’s also great hurt and pain”
A NEW TAKE ON THE OLD LOKI
One of the fun aspects of this series is taking the Loki that came on screen nine years ago and sending him in a new direction from the height of his villainy. This also works quite well with the lead character having so many dimensions to his character, fluctuating between anti-hero and villain at nearly every turn.
Herron and Hiddleston both appear ready to take the God of Mischief to the next level on Disney+ as Loki travels through the multiverse with the newly stolen Tesseract, living up to the challenge of "[subverting] expectations." The anti-hero is sure to take on new challenges and push boundaries with the TVA agents he'll be fighting with, exploring sides of him that have been hidden through all of his MCU appearances so far.
With Hiddleston having played this role for most of the last ten years, he's built up a lifetime of backstory with the character' through all three Thor films and a triple dose of Avengers outings. The work that he and the team have put in seems to be fully in service of making sure Loki continues the right way, and fans are anxious to see exactly how it plays out.
Loki will debut on Disney+ on June 9, 2021.
