Why We Probably Won’t See TVA Loki in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ (and Why That’s a Good Thing)
I just want to see them hug! Just one brotherly hug, please!
UPDATE: Now that Thor: Love and Thunder is out, see our analysis at the end of this article!
Thor: Love and Thunder is coming out on July 8, and now that we’ve picked apart the first teaser trailer as much as humanly possible, let’s talk about what we didn’t see in the trailer, and probably won’t see in the movie: Loki, Thor’s brother and the God of Mischief.
We know that Matt Damon will be reprising his role as an Asgardian actor playing Loki. Other than that, though, there are no signs that Tom Hiddleston will be appearing in the movie. Usually a surprise character is preceded by at least a few leaks and rumors, but with Thor 4, we’ve heard nothing. Zilch. Zero. The Marvel rumor mill loves to churn out wild possibilities right and left, so it’s telling that there have been no remotely credible leaks so far.
So Where is He, Exactly?
The Loki from Ragnarok and Infinity War is, of course, dead. While it’s fun to speculate that he might come back as a ghost or something, there’s really no way for him to return.
But wait! What about the TVA Loki? The one who was spit out of the void at the end of time and is now stranded somewhere in the multiverse? Yeah, he could definitely show up. But it actually wouldn’t make a lot of sense for him to appear in Thor 4, when you think about it.
In terms of Marvel’s overarching plot line, Loki is now much more closely connected to Doctor Strange than he is to Thor. After all, it’s Loki who witnessed the birth of the multiverse in Loki, and Doctor Strange who then blew it open in Spider-Man: No Way Home. As soon as Loki season 1 ended, Hollywood Reporter announced that Loki would appear in Multiverse of Madness. That cameo makes perfect sense, if Strange is trying to get more information about the multiverse. If Loki is going to be popping up in other Marvel films, Thor 4 actually isn’t the most likely place for it to happen. (That’s not to say it’s not possible, though!)
And honestly? Thor and Loki having some time apart might be a very good thing.
The Brothers Discover Their Identities Outside of Each Other
The Thor franchise is heading in a new direction, with the brothers now exploring who they are apart from each other.
In a 2017 interview, Tom Hiddleston said that “Loki defines himself in opposition to Thor. There is not Thor without Loki, there is no Loki without Thor.” Loki has played a pivotal role in every single Thor movie so far, and the plot of each one has largely revolved around Thor and Loki’s evolving relationship. The first Thor movie focused on the family drama of Loki’s jealousy of Thor and his shock at finding out he wasn’t actually Asgardian, with Loki’s actions reverberating throughout Asgard all the way to Earth.
The Dark World saw Thor and Loki form an uneasy alliance, and even begin to warm up to each other in the wake of their mother Frigga’s death. Finally, in Ragnarok, Loki redeemed himself fully when he finally decided to drop the cycle of betrayal and treachery that he’d set in motion in Thor. Thor’s “Maybe you’re not so bad after all” wasn’t just a quip. It was an acknowledgment that maybe the brothers were finally turning over a new leaf. After all, with their homeworld gone and their parents both dead, they were left with only each other to rely on.
Now, though, like twin siblings each going to a different college, we’re seeing the two brothers really exploring their identities outside of their relationship with each other. In Disney+’s Loki series, Loki is literally stripped of everything that connects him to Asgard when the TVA disintegrates his fine Asgardian leather. He’s then dressed in the same uniform as everyone else at the TVA. Once he’s completely untethered from his former life and he understands that his entire reality has been literally destroyed, Loki is free to explore who he is outside of the family issues that defined him before. It takes him a few episodes and a whole lot of variants for him to really get it, but by the end of the series, he’s discovered a whole new identity that he never even knew was in him. And although this Loki variant is caught up on how his relationship with Thor evolved post-Avengers and the major events that happened to the other Loki, he’s a different Loki than the Loki who died at Thanos’ hands in Infinity War.
Meanwhile, the new teaser for Thor 4 is giving us some pretty clear signs that Thor is going to go through his own journey of self-discovery. As he’s meditating on a picturesque mountaintop, Thor’s voiceover tells us that “I need to figure out exactly who I am.” It’s no wonder that Thor is undergoing some self-reflection. Ever since the events of Infinity War, which left him depressed and traumatized, Thor has been grappling with the guilt and shame of failing to defeat Thanos, along with the loneliness and grief of losing everyone he loved. The last few years have been a heavy period for Thor, and it looks like Love and Thunder will show us who he becomes when he emerges from it.
It’s also an amazing coincidence (or maybe not a coincidence!) that both Thor and Loki meet alternate versions of themselves in their new adventures: Loki gets to know Sylvie, and Thor will see Jane take on the mantle of the Mighty Thor.
All in all, from a storytelling perspective, having Thor and Loki explore their identities in separate adventures is a really smart move. It gives their characters some breathing room, allows Marvel to explore storylines it couldn’t have if they were joined at the hip, and sets them both up for a hell of a reunion.
Will We Ever See Thor and Loki Together Again?
There’s already some evidence that a Thor and Loki reunion is coming.
In a 2021 interview with Variety, which came out after season 1 of Loki ended, Tom Hiddleston said that he knows fans “want [Loki] to repair that relationship with his brother and step into the hero that he can be.” It’d be incredibly cruel of Hiddleston to dangle a possibility like this in front of fans if he knew for sure that there was no chance that Thor and Loki would ever meet up again, so it seems likely that Marvel has some long term plans in the works.
Plus, Loki unveiled Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror, who will likely take Thanos’s place as the next major Marvel villain. We already know that Kang is appearing in Ant-Man: Quantumania next year, with more possible appearances after that, so we may see Thor and Loki come together to help defeat him.
That is, if Chris Hemsworth hasn’t retired by the time it happens. We may see Jane take Thor’s place permanently in Thor 4.
That’s just speculation, though. In the meantime, we can enjoy the Matt Damon Loki cameo we know is coming in Thor 4, and look forward to Loki season 2, due out sometime in 2023.
UPDATE: Loki’s Presence in Thor: Love and Thunder
Sure enough, Loki himself didn’t make an appearance in Thor 4. However, along with Matt Damon’s appearance as actor Loki (which was positively inspired), we did get some very sweet Loki-themed moments.
At the beginning of the movie, Korg is narrating the story of Thor’s life so far. Korg says that Thor lost his parents, and we see clips of Frigga and Odin’s deaths from The Dark World and Ragnarok. Then Korg says that Thor lost Loki, and we see Loki falling into the void in the original Thor. Korg says Thor lost Loki again and again, and we see his other two “deaths:” first his fake death on Svartalfheim, and then his real death at the hand of Thanos.
Then, when Zeus flicks off Thor’s clothes in Omnipotence City, we see that his back is covered in tattoos: Loki’s horns, “RIP Loki,” “Brothers,” “Rest in Mischief,” and a list of all the people he’s lost with a question mark by Loki’s name.
That question mark is an important detail! Partly it’s there because Thor has been faked out by Loki’s deaths so many times that he’s not sure what to believe anymore. Partly, though, it might be signaling that Thor and Loki’s reunion is on its way. Now that Loki season 2 is in production, Thor is confirmed to return to the MCU, and multiversal war is brewing, the brothers Odinson are sure to find each other again.
(image: Marvel)
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