I think the majority of us agree with the fact that Loki, one of the most complex and acclaimed MCU characters, deserved a better ending to his redemption arc. I have decided to write this post in order to spread some hope that this is not the last we’ve seen of the God of Mischief.
First of all, his death was not convincing nor fitting for a character that is known for dying and coming back in almost every movie he is in (and don’t forget about the comic books). If the directors intended to make his death believable, they should have made him use his powers, try to trick Thanos with his illusions or attempt to fake his own death again and ultimately fail. He should have had a good plan only for it to be disrupted by Thanos and the fact that he doesn’t even seem to try makes me think either Loki is not dead or he let Thanos kill him on purpose.
It’s interesting that neither Loki nor Doctor Strange seem to use the infinity stones they own against Thanos. Even Thanos acknowledges that Strange doesn’t “use his greatest weapon”. But we know that Strange made use of the time stone to see into the future and realised that he (and half the universe) had to die in order to win in the end (presumably). Maybe Loki knew this as well. Maybe his death was also necessary in order to reach that outcome and that’s why he let Thanos kill him.
“The Tesseract can show visions of the future, which may or may not come true. The people who have seen this power are the Red Skull, Eric Selvig, and Hawkeye […]” [source] Loki seemed to be looking at the tesseract very intently before saying “I assure you, brother, the sun will shine on us again” to Thor. The tesseract could have shown him a vision of a future in which Thanos is defeated and Loki’s brought back to life somehow, hence the optimism of his statement. Also, I’m 100% sure this line is foreshadowing, it’s too cryptic and striking.
Also, it’s odd that Loki just drops the tesseract on the floor and doesn’t even try to pick it up while Thanos is distracted, considering he seemed so unwilling to give it away only a moment before. I guess he was too busy doing… whatever it is he was doing while Thanos was beating the crap out of the Hulk and killing Heimdall. Because, really, where was he? If the Russos’ intention was to make us believe Loki was out of options and would finally meet his definitive end, it was not a good idea to have the audience lose sight of him for 4 whole minutes, especially since he’s a character who has faked his own death before and whose most distinctive traits are being mischievous and unpredictable.
When being asked about Loki’s death at Ace Con 2018, Tom Hiddleston said “I’ve known about that scene for two years. I met with Marvel in May 2016, and they were actually telling me the story of Ragnarok with concept arts and images. […] My whole journey through making Thor: Ragnarok I knew this was coming” [source] Tom knew about his Infinity War scene back in 2016 and yet he said this about Loki on September 2017: “He’s cunning and transformative and changeable and will do everything he can to survive. He’s the trickster. He’s the God of mischief.” [source]
Tom Hiddleston also had a reassuring message for fans who were worried about Loki before Infinity War was released: “Loki is the God of Mischief, the Lord of Misrule, an Agent of Chaos. Chaos isn’t something that’s threatening to Loki and everything’s fine.” [source]
Even Loki himself reminded us who he was right before being ‘killed’ by Thanos. “I, Loki, prince of Asgard, Odinson, the rightful king of Jotunheim, God of Mischief […]”. His last words “you will never be a god” also point out the fact that he is a god (and Thanos is not). This line sounds too cryptic as well, it’s almost like Loki is telling Thanos “I know something you don’t”.
It is also known some members of the cast filmed at least one scene in Durham Cathedral (2017), and Tom Hiddleston was supposedly among them. Although he has not been photographed, different people claimed to have spotted him on the set.
The scene(s) shot in the cathedral never made it into Infinity War. However, it is unclear whether this footage was shot for Avengers 4. It’s important to remember that this location was also used to film Thor’s vision in Age of Ultron, a vision which seemingly represented Hel. We also know that Loki’s death in Thor: The Dark World was originally intended to be real, although not definitive, as Thor was supposed to travel to Hel and retrieve Loki in Thor: Ragnarok. [source] Perhaps this idea has not been fully discarded, which would be a plausible explanation as to why Chris, Tessa and Tom were spotted filming in Durham. It could be assumed that Loki is truly dead this time, but not for good: Thor would go to Hel in order to bring him back from the dead, hopefully in Avengers 4, or in another Thor movie. You can read more about this on this Reddit thread.
It’s actually a fact that Loki will appear in the next Avengers movie, as these leaked photos of the A4 set confirm.
These photos suggest that Avengers 4 will recreate the Battle of New York. The widespread assumption that Loki’s presence in the pictures indicates a flashback is wrong, as we can see Scott and an older Tony in the company of Captain America, who is wearing his old costume (meaning he is Steve’s past self). Thor and Loki are also dressed as in the battle of New York and Loki is gagged. He has something that looks like the tesseract in his hand and this doesn’t add up to the events of the first Avengers movie, which could mean that time travel is involved. This alone doesn’t prove that Loki is alive in the current timeline, but maybe his death can be reversed if the Avengers alter the past. In any case, at least we can be sure that his past self will play a role in the movie.
Kevin Feige tweeted this letter dedicated to the fans after Infinity War was released. We can see Thanos’ gauntlet as well as a Loki keychain in the picture, next to the letter, which seems suspicious since Loki’s role in IW was pretty limited.
When it comes to Kevin Feige, it is also important to point out that he has barely spoken about Loki’s death. In fact, when asked specifically about Loki, he only said that the scene was emotional, as were some other scenes in the movie [source]. He seemed to avoid answering the question by beating about the bush and repeating the same thing over again. One would think that if this were Loki’s final scene, Feige would have something more to say, considering that Loki is a fan favorite and that Feige himself always seemed to appreciate the character.
In addition, Jeremy Conrad seems to believe Loki could come back and has hinted he will on several occasions. For those who don’t know who this man is, he’s a journalist and the founder of MCU Cosmic and he has proven himself to be a quite reliable source when it comes to information regarding the MCU. This is what he said on the matter at hand:
Then, he shared the link to a brief article about the possibility of Loki being brought back to life through time travel. You can read it here.
Two months later, this was Jeremy Conrad’s response when someone suggested Tom Hiddleston should be the next James Bond:
He basically hinted that Tom Hiddleston’s Loki is not over yet though when some users asked him to elaborate he didn’t answer. We all know that Avengers 4 is in post-production by now and this movie definitely won’t keep Tom busy so we can assume Jeremy Conrad is referring to the possibility of Loki being in other MCU movies yet to be announced.
Many of you may not know this but some weeks ago a man who claimed to have worked at Tom Hiddleston’s house tweeted that Tom has signed up for 4 more Marvel movies:
We should take this with a grain of salt but I personally think he might be telling the truth. Though I’ve chosen to hide his username because of the negative response he got for this tweet, this is not just an anonymous person hiding behind a computer screen, but someone who has personal information on his twitter profile, such as pictures, location, occupation (he is indeed a plumber and works in the UK) and he deleted the tweet once it started to gain some attention. He said he only wanted to share the good news but regretted tweeting about it because of the way Loki fans had reacted (some were calling him a liar). However, he insisted that he wasn’t lying and that we would see Loki in more movies. To be honest, I was really skeptical about this whole plumber thing at first but a few days after this, Jeremy Conrad insinuated that Tom Hiddleston won’t be James Bond because that would be incompatible with his role as Loki, so, even though 4 more films sound too good to be true, I think something might be going on with Tom’s contract.
At this point, it seems there is more evidence of Loki coming back than being permanently dead but, of course, nothing is confirmed yet. I’ve made a list of links just in case you want to read more theories about Loki’s death:
My credence that Loki will come back in A4 in any context other than time travel to 2012 is still about 0.3. Which means I don’t believe it. But I’m not completely convinced he won’t. I’m keeping my credence below 0.5 until the movie is out.
Who remembers this video: Tom Hiddleston Loki transformation?
Published on November 2017. (Read Tom said the filming was in April 2017)
Now someone came with these shots. Check them out. Thoughts? I always thought the video was from Ragnarok! Credit: Adorablemarvels
I’d always thought this was from Ragnarok too. This just makes me sad. Did they film this because it was the last time Tom would put on the Loki wig? 😟
If Infinity War and Avengers 4 were filmed concurrently and this scene was filmed after the sequences in which the Avengers travel back to 2012, that’s entirely possible.
Loki, about to be taken into custody on Earth: And just who.. are you?
Tony, travelled back in time and just very recently postponed Loki being taken into custody on Earth after giving a hurried explanation: Ah, y’know. Just a regular time travelling joe desperately trying to save the world. Which includes your ass, I might add.
Loki, very sceptically eyeing Tony despite the random aid and explanation: And what makes you think I believe you?
Tony: Nothing. In fact, I expected that. But maybe you’ll believe-
Thor: [shoves Tony out the way]
Tony: Hey-!
Thor: [slams Loki’s body into his]
Loki: [is confused asf]
Tony: [is confused asf, understanding then uncomfortable all within 10 seconds]
Tony: [clears throat then opens his mouth to speak]
Thor, pulls back from hugging Loki in favour of gripping Loki’s neck and staring him in the eyes: He speaks the truth, brother.
Tony, throwing in his two cents before Thor can interrupt him again: See? Not crazy.
Thor: I watched you die. For good.
Loki, thinking how unlikely a scenario it must’ve been given he’s a survivor and trickster above all else: I must have put up quite the fight.
Thor: You… tried to stab him.
Loki: ……That’s it? No magic? Casket of Ancient Winters? Nothing?
Thor: [shakes head from side to side]
Loki: F*cking cinematic universe.
Tony: No kidding. I’m probably going to die this film. Albeit in very heroic fashion, I’m sure. Perks of pioneering the MCU, fan favorite and all that.
Loki: At least you’re allowed your capabilities. I’m a fan favorite as well and yet I’m constantly reduced to the God of Knives.
Thor: Can we stop breaking the fourth wall now, please? I’m not done explaining to Loki there’s a chance he could still be alive because this is his third time fucking dying and though I’d be super pissed I’ll also be elated if he were Banner.
I’ve read some spoilers going around for IW2 and let me tell you: they sound both credible and barf-worthy. If you think you hated what the Russo did with Loki in IW1 believe me, the spoilers for the future are worse.
First of all, i’d like to say sorry for upsetting anyone. I was upset myself, still am. The link is under, read at your own discretion. I found the info credible as it’s in line with some other spoilers posted before by people who were somewhat credible about IW1. It has bits about many characters and (for the first time) stuff about Loki in IW2 that is in accord to the photos taken during filming.
“Later, Loki reconvenes with Thanos and explains they have uncovered his machination to collect the stones, so he acts sooner”???
WTF?! Why would he do that? Is that supposed to be while Loki is still on Earth and corresponding occasionally with the Other, before the Avengers defeat him? Or does he do this when he’s back on Asgard? If the latter, why the fuck would he still be helping Thanos??
I already thought Markus & McFeely were dimwitted hacks, but honestly… they have a consistent habit of throwing character out the window for the sake of plot machinations and/or action setpieces.
Just a little hope for Loki to start your weekend. (x)
Does anyone know who this Reddit user is? If it’s really someone in the Atlanta filmmaking industry, this is reassuring; but I don’t know if they actually have legit inside information and I don’t want to get excited about a hoax…
I did a quick Google search to answer my question about information sources and this is what I found. And I have to say… this is the most promising thing I have seen or heard regarding Loki’s fate in IW/A4. Tony going back in time to spring Loki from captivity in The Avengers? I would definitely be here for that.
I also found this story about reports that Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who plays Pietro Maximoff, had been seen on the set of Avengers 4.
What I’m not sure about is whether this has any consequences for their future survival past the point when, in the original timeline, they died. Whoever is doing the time travel shenanigans might be operating according to some kind of “least disturbance” principle – retrieving the Infinity Stones so that Thanos can’t get them, but otherwise leaving things the way they were.
This also doesn’t necessarily mean that Loki will have a significant role in A4, and based on some of the obnoxious things the Russos have said, I still don’t have a lot of hope that he will. He might just have a couple of cameos from the past while our heroes work around him to get/destroy the Infinity Stones; I’m still not at all confident that the writers or directors care enough about giving Loki a satisfying narrative arc to give him any agency in the effort to defeat Thanos, despite the fact that he clearly has some previous experience with Thanos and personal reasons to want to take him down. And I will still be pretty pissed if he’s basically just background scenery for other people’s heroics and if his IW death is still the end of his story.
Loki is the Philosopher King 