Marvel Update to Loki's Bio

[lynnenne]

Hello, friends! Welcome to your Sunday discussion post. This week's topic:

About a month ago, Marvel updated their official character bio for Loki to include this retcon:

Arriving at the Sanctuary through a wormhole caused by the Bifrost, Loki met the Other, ruler of the ancient race of extraterrestrials the Chitauri, and Thanos. Offering the God of Mischief dominion over his brother’s favorite realm Earth, Thanos requested the Tesseract in return. Gifted with a Scepter that acted as a mind control device, Loki would be able to influence others. Unbeknownst to him, the Scepter was also influencing him, fueling his hatred over his brother Thor and the inhabitants of Earth. [my emphasis]

What's your opinion on this "official" statement? How do you interpret it? Was Loki mind-controlled or merely made crankier than usual, the way Bruce was when he was holding the scepter during the big argument scene in The Avengers?

Does this change your view on Loki's character or his behavior? Is Marvel's "official" statement different from your head canon?

And why do you think they felt the need to update his MCU bio now, seven years after The Avengers was released in theatres?

Comments

[dendriteblues]

Yeah I feel like it's just Marvel cleaning house and making some of the more popular fan theories official. They've been known to change their plans based on fan response (one of the reasons the franchise is still doing so well, imo.) and I think now is just a convenient time. Hell, on the first cut Loki wasn't even IN Thor II, and I suspect he was meant to be retired like other villains after A1.

Based on how Thor II ended, I feel like they had vague plans of making him a servant of Thanos in IW, and so they held off on solidifying the sympathetic aspects of his fall. But plans clearly changed between Dark World and Ragnarok, we may never know why exactly. Maybe somebody at Marvel just noticed how determined fans were to redeem him in fic/fanart and thought it would get a better response to give him a canon redemption arc? IDK, but they pretty much threw out the Loki-is-Odin plot line as quickly as they possibly could and didn't ever provide a compelling reason why Loki did it. So I would say plans changed for him and they realized they needed to give him and Thor a chance to reconcile in Ragnarok in order to sell his "heroic death".

Not sure if that's still worthy of spoiler text, but better safe than sorry I guess. haha

[lynnenne]

Hell, on the first cut Loki wasn't even IN Thor II, and I suspect he was meant to be retired like other villains after A1.

Really? I had heard that his part in earlier drafts of the script was smaller, but I didn't know they had drafted a version without Loki even in it. That's wild!

[dendriteblues]

Yeahhhhhh, I happened to work with the makeup artist that worked on Thor 2 (on another film, not Marvel! I'm not that cool!) and according to him it was kind of a mess behind the scenes.

Natalie Portman didn't like the script, she thought that Jane was turned into a plot device (she wasn't wrong). Plus Avengers came out after the script had already been locked and they realized Loki was more popular than Thor. There were lots of discussions about how the movie ought to handle that, a lot of disagreements. A draft was written where Loki didn't appear because they worried that Hiddleston would outshine Hemsworth in his own movie. (which in my opinion he kind of did, honestly)

Then Loki-mania happened. Hiddle's speech at Comic Con happened. By this point they were supposed to start shooting soon and they still didn't have a script everyone liked. They started shooting the original script and Faige realized the film really lacked depth and character interaction. It was basically just a sequence of characters playing musical chairs around Thor while he defeated a lackluster villain.

So he famously called in Whedon to do a patch job and the old Jossmeister gave us all the Loki scenes.(Loki in chains talking to Odin, Loki imitating Cap, Loki talking to Thor on the ship about Frigga/Jane/their relationship) Basically before the rewrites Loki was either not appearing in that film or was a plot device that existed to get Thor from Asgard to Svartelfhind, save Jane, and then fake his death for the end credit cliffhanger.

Loki in chains was added because the original beginning didn't really connect to A1 and it was kind of awkward and confusing to not have the story connect. Loki imitating Cap was put in because they realized he'd never shapeshifted in the films and so him becoming Odin felt like a deus ex machina with no set up. (I mean, it still is, but at least it's established now) and the conversation on the ship was a request from Whedon and Hiddles who thought it was weird for Thor and Loki to go adventuring together after A1 without any real resolution of their differences.

It's pretty wild to imagine that movie without those scenes huh? I mean, I'm not a huge fan of TDW anyway, but without those scenes...few. That would have been a real snoozefest.

[lynnenne]

That is so interesting! I love hearing behind-the-scenes stories.

Natalie Portman didn't like the script, she thought that Jane was turned into a plot device (she wasn't wrong).

Not at all. I can totally see why she didn't want to come back for the next installment.

A draft was written where Loki didn't appear because they worried that Hiddleston would outshine Hemsworth in his own movie. (which in my opinion he kind of did, honestly)

He absolutely did, but I don't really see that as Hemsworth's fault. They just didn't give Thor any interesting character growth in TDW. His story was so much better in Ragnarok.

I knew that Whedon had script-doctored the scene with Loki in chains, but I didn't realize he wrote the scene of Loki imitating Cap. In retrospect, I should have known, because it was the funniest scene in the whole movie. I'm not the Whedon fan I used to be but he can still make me laugh.

I'm not a huge fan of TDW anyway, but without those scenes...few. That would have been a real snoozefest.

As cheesy as it is, I still love Loki's fake-death scene in TDW. Not only is it well acted, it was the first time I really bought into the idea that these two brothers loved each other. All the tender moments between them in the original Thor were cut from the theater release, and only ever showed up as "deleted scenes" extras, which I didn't see until years later.

[dendriteblues]

Completely agree! Thor's character development in Ragnarok was excellent. It was honestly the first time I really could related to him as a character.

Yeah, Whedon isn't as easy to love has he used to be but I will always respect his script sense. He knows how to write a good story and give characters moments of depth to shine. :)

I also really love his fake death! But I do think the added scenes really help you understand why he does it. The scene with Odin especially, since it lets us know that Loki has absolutely zero chance of getting mercy from Odin. It makes his decision understandable, even if it is a crazy idea.

However it happened, I'm just glad we got so much great Loki development in 2! Those are all among my favorite Loki scenes.