Spoilers for Infinity War, obviously
Though we can’t imagine anyone who cares hasn’t already seen the movie yet.
As if you needed reminding, Avengers: Infinity War featured a lot of your favourite characters being killed off, in various soul-crushing ways.
The filmmakers were not messing around, and they made a big statement of intent in the opening scene. Thanos just rocks up to the Asgardian’s spaceship and straight up murders Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Heimdall (Idris Elba).
Ok, Heimdall was nobody’s favourite character, and it was clear they weren’t going to keep paying a star as big as Idris Elba to play such a minor character. But Loki is one of the most loved characters in the whole MCU. Plus, he’s faked his death before, and come back – surely he’s not gone for good?
Tom Hiddleston was at the ACE Comic Con in Seattle this weekend, and he’s been talking about Loki’s untimely demise. And he’s said he knew it was coming, and he’s had a few years to let it sink in.
"So, 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 [Thor: Ragnarok] with concept art and images. The Russos came in, and I introduced myself. So, all four of us sat down, and they said this is how Infinity War begins."
"My whole journey through making Thor: Ragnarok — I knew this was coming. By the end of Thor: Ragnarok, Loki has been accepted as Thor’s brother again."
Even though he’s only in the movie for about five minutes, he makes a real impact on the story. And Hiddleston spoke proudly about Loki’s death meaning something.
"When I came to shoot the scene in Infinity War, I think it’s very powerful he calls himself an Odinson, and that closes the whole journey of Loki and what he can do. It set the stakes up emotionally. It takes the stakes up dramatically. You know that Thanos is someone who’s more dangerous than anyone we’ve seen before."
That all sounds pretty conclusive, right?
Still, there’s so much secrecy around the next Avengers film – plus Hiddleston is a good enough actor to pull off a ruse like this – so we wouldn’t be totally shocked if Loki did make a sneaky appearance in Avengers 4.
