Posted in: Disney+, Marvel, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: disney, loki, marvel, season 2, tom hiddleston

Loki Star Tom Hiddleston Sees Himself as a "Temporary Torchbearer"

If you're a fan of Disney+ & Marvel Studios' Tom Hiddleston-starring Loki then we're pretty sure you've been liking what you've been hearing about the upcoming second season. From word that filming will kick off this summer, we then heard from Gugu Mbatha-raw & Owen Wilson confirming they would be returning. Following that, we had the news that Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead (Moon Knight, Archive 81) will co-direct a majority of the Season 2 episodes (with Eric Martin penning all six episodes, and Hiddleston & Season 1 showrunner/writer Michael Waldron executive producing). But for this go-around, Hiddleston has teamed back up with Waldron, first season director Kate Herron (via Zoom), and co-star Sophia Di Martino (Sylvie) at a Wednesday evening event hosted by the Royal Television Society.

At a time when a number of familiar faces such as Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans have moved on from the MCU, and Mark Ruffalo joking about passing the "banner" onto Tatiana Maslany in the upcoming She-Hulk, Hiddleston's thoughts on his time as The God of Mischief also seem to have a ring of "endgame" (you're welcome) to them. "I'm a temporary torchbearer. I've always thought that," Hiddleston revealed during the event. "It's a great role. It's an archetype, the trickster god, the agent of chaos. I'm just here interpreting that for the time being. Loki has been here for centuries and will be here for centuries more and I'm just stepping into that silhouette for now."

For Hiddleston, it was the streaming series' focus on the themes of identity & acceptance that drew him to the project because of how well they hit at the heart of the Asgardian. "This idea of somehow the [Time Variance Authority] confronting Loki with the shape-shifting nature of his identity and asking him 'Who are you?' I found it a new avenue to explore with this character I've been playing for a while. It felt original. It didn't feel like we were repeating," he explained. But soon, Hiddleston realized that the series was also touching upon much larger and bolder themes. "Michael [Waldron] and I were having breakfast a couple of years ago when [he'd] written that first pilot and found ourselves talking about psychoanalytic theory and repetition compulsion and [the question of] can you ever change? Is it possible for people to change? Even if you do will people accept that you've changed? Is it possible to know yourself entirely?" Hiddleston explained. "And then Owen [Wilson] came and was so forensic about examining all of that stuff, and then we realized we were in a police detective thriller. When I was cast as Loki however many years ago, I never thought this character is a detective. But he is here."

Now here's a look back at how it all began with the official trailer for the Disney+ and Marvel Studios series:

Kate Herron (Sex Education) directed and executive produced, and Michael Waldron (Heels, Rick and Morty) served as head writer and executive producer on Loki, which finds Hiddleston's God of Mischief on the run and on a mission during his unexpected, time-traveling walkabout. Joining Hiddleston is Owen Wilson as TVA Agent Mobius M. Mobius, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ravonna Lexus Renslayer, Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15, Tara Strong as the voice of Miss Minutes, Sophia Di Martino as Sylvie, Richard E. Grant, Sasha Lane, Erika Coleman, and Eugene Cordero.

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