When Tom Hiddleston wanted to play Thor, but was cast as Loki instead for this reason

Tom Hiddleston, who celebrates his 42nd birthday today, was more interested in playing the role of Thor, which eventually went to Chris Hemsworth.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | February 9, 2022 04:26 PM IST

3 min read

Tom Hiddleston, Tom Hiddleston loki, Tom Hiddleston birthday

Tom Hiddleston turns 42 today. (Photo: Marvel Studios)

Tom Hiddleston has so completely owned the role of MCU supervillain/anti-hero Loki for more than a decade that it is hard to imagine anybody else as the god of mischief. But the English actor, who celebrates his 42nd birthday today, was more interested in playing the role of Thor, which eventually went to Chris Hemsworth.

Thanks to characterisation and Hiddleston’s performance, Loki has become a constant in MCU since Thor, and there is a reason Marvel keeps bringing him back.

Also Read | Tom Hiddleston: I love that Loki is stripped of everything that’s familiar to him

Loki believes he was wronged by Odin, his adoptive father. This is why he is perpetually engaged in a war against everybody he knows, including his brother, albeit with a sly smile. He is a mass-murderer but still manages to earn audience’s sympathy.

Hiddleston is perfect in how he channels the unique persona of Loki, complete with the sliminess and the devious grin. Loki may be a good guy temporarily, but he will always return to his duplicitous ways. And the audience knows it.

Branagh told Entertainment Weekly in 2021, “Tom gave you an impression that he could be ready for anything, performance-wise. Tom has a wild imagination, so does Loki. He’s got a mischievous sense of humour and he was ready to play. It felt like he had a star personality, but he was a team player.”

“He understood that he was already in something special [and] it was a special character in a special part of that early moment in the life of the Marvel universe where [he] also needed to step up in other ways,” he added.

The popularity of the character among MCU fans is such that even his actual demise in Avengers: Infinity War, when he was choked to death by Thanos — as final a death as can be — was not the end of the road for the trickster. An earlier version of Loki, the one who was defeated in the Battle of New York, escaped with the Space Stone, and it all led to the Disney+ TV series on the character.

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