The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been filled with actors the fanbase has come to adore for their renditions of these beloved comic book characters, with Tom Hiddleston's Loki standing out among the most popular. However, the actor has revealed that while he may have been brought in to portray the God of Mischief, Marvel Studios was hedging their bets just in case another casting didn't work out.
Hiddleston spoke about his casting experience with the Seaman Says podcast, via ComicBookMovie, where he revealed Marvel Studios had added a unique clause to his contract when he originally signed on to the MCU in 2009. He explained the contract included some vague language that effectively made him an alternate option to play the titular hero in 2011's Thor.
“It was really curious,” Hiddleston told the podcast. “This is very much par for the course in the business, but I signed…basically, they pre-negotiated my contract before going in [for the audition] and I signed it.”
“But I noticed on that morning, it said, ‘Marvel Studios has the right to cast Tom Hiddleston in the role of…' and there was a blank. And somebody had written, ‘Thor/Loki.'”
At the time, Hiddleston was one of many actors vying for the role of Thor in the fledgling MCU alongside his future co-star and on-screen brother Chris Hemsworth. Audition footage had even found its way online in the years following showing Hiddleston reading for the God of Thunder before ultimately being brought on as Loki, instead.
Hiddleston told the podcast that he felt the clause was unique to him, alone, as he had read for Thor and it could have been Marvel Studios taking precautions in case they needed to replace Hemsworth.
Burdened with Glorious Purpose
Everything ultimately worked out for Hiddleston and Hemsworth as they have enjoyed long and fruitful careers in the MCU as Loki and Thor, respectively. The pair would appear opposite each other in five MCU films including the first three Thor films, 2012's The Avengers, Avengers: Infinity War, and briefly in Avengers: Endgame.
Following Endgame, Hemsworth and Hiddleston would split off as their respective characters would go in two drastically different directions.
Hemsworth would continue portraying Thor on the big screen with 2022's Thor: Love and Thunder, which reunited the God of Thunder with Natalie Portman's Jane Foster for the first time since 2013's Thor: The Dark World. The Australian-born actor is expected to return as Thor for at least one more standalone film and in at least one, if not both, of the next Avengers films.
As for Loki, Hiddleston would return as the character in the Disney Plus series Loki that followed his 2012 variant seen in Avengers: Endgame after he is captured and forcefully recruited by the Time Variance Authority to hunt another Loki variant named Sylvie. The series ran for two seasons and received widely positive reactions from fans and critics, though it is not expected to return for a third season.
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