Tom Hiddleston Turning Over Loki To Another Actor?
Is Tom Hiddleston on the way out?
This article is more than 2 years old
The actors who began the individual franchises of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are making way for new blood. Anthony Mackie is the new Captain America, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk will be stepping aside in favor of Tatiana Maslany’s She-Hulk, and — while Chris Hemsworth hasn’t necessarily said he’s going anywhere anytime soon — soon Natalie Portman will become the Mighty Thor. The MCU seems ready for a new generation of legacy heroes, and now Tom Hiddleston has seemingly added his name to the list of actors from MCU’s Phase 1 hanging up their capes, though he hasn’t said when.
The actor’s words come from a panel discussion about Disney+’s Loki (via Variety) in which he strongly hints that another actor is meant to take over his role. Tom Hiddleston referred to himself as a “temporary torchbearer” for the role of Loki. Saying that he was “just interpreting” the character “for the time being,” Hiddleston added, “Loki has been here for centuries and will be here for centuries more and I’m just stepping into that silhouette for now.”
Thanks to the Multiverse that we first got a peek at with Loki, we know there are no shortage of variants to step into Hiddleston’s shoes. Probably at the top of the list of actors to replace Tom Hiddleston is Sophia Di Martino as Sylvie — the female Loki variant. There’s Jack Veal’s Kid Loki who has been speculated to be a part of whatever Young Avengers project eventually emerges from the MCU. Richard E. Grant’s Classic Loki seemingly dies in the series but, of course… it is Loki. The guy’s got Freddy Kruegger numbers when it comes to dying and coming back.
Whenever Tom Hiddleston does exit the MCU, no one will ever be able to accuse the guy of not putting his time in. Starting off as the main antagonist for 2011’s Thor, he soon returned to take on the MCU’s first super team in the following year’s Avengers. He’s reprised the role in four more films, and now his own live-action series along with lending his voice to four episodes of What If…? He’s been a villain, a hero, Marvel’s first openly bisexual lead, and — in the hands of the Hulk — a cat toy. He’s returning for the upcoming Loki season two, though he claims he won’t be around for this year’s Thor: Love and Thunder. Of course, considering what we all just experienced during the lead-up to Spider-Man: No Way Home, it practically feels like an actor saying they won’t be in a movie is just an admission that they will be, so who knows?
This is only speculation, but whenever Tom Hiddleston makes way for a new Loki, it could offer Marvel the opportunity to once again feature the character as an antagonist. This is particularly a possibility if it is Di Martino who replaces Hiddleston. The season 1 finale of Loki sees her come off as more violent-minded than her male counterpart. Regardless of who takes over for Hiddleston or whether or not they fight on the side of the angels, hopefully we still have a year or two of the actor in the role to look forward to.
