Tom Hiddleston Reveals Loki’s Surprising Die Hard Connection

Tom Hiddleston took inspiration for his portrayal of Loki from an unexpected action movie villain. After playing the character for 13 years, Hiddleston is taking a well-earned break from the God of Mischief after positioning him at the heart of the Marvel multiverse – literally. However, that doesn’t mean he is completely done with the character, and he certainly has not stopped discussing the role that elevated his career in Hollywood.

While discussing Loki at PaleyFest 2024 (via People), Hiddleston touched on his original preparation to play the character, and how the late Alan Rickman’s performance as Hans Gruber in Die Hard played a big role in influencing how he portrayed Loki. He also cited North By Northwest’s James Mason and his character of Phillip Vandamm as another big source of inspiration.

“Those are all characters that are about control and revenge. I might just love those performances as a child. … I just was so drawn to those performances as they seemed to be having such a wonderful time playing these antagonists, I suppose. And that was part of the charm. They were so charismatic, even though they weren’t at the center of those films.”

Loki Has Undergone a Transformation Since His First MCU Appearance

It is not very often that a character can be assumed to be dead on multiple occasions, then be categorically killed off on-screen, and somehow still return again to continue their story. However, this is exactly what happened with Loki. Although the trickster appeared to have mastered the art of avoiding death, his luck ran out in Avengers: Infinity War when Thanos dealt him a fatal blow that appeared to end the character’s time in the MCU permanently.

However, a twist of fate in Avengers: Endgame saw the 2012 version of Loki being granted an unexpected route out of his incarceration following the Battle of New York. This led directly to the character becoming the center of his own story in the series Loki, which once again completely redefined the character, and saw him eventually embracing his “glorious purpose” and preventing the multiverse from running wild and destroying everything.

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Tom Hiddleston Explains Why Loki Was Never a Villain in the MCU

Tom Hiddleston reflected on his years playing Marvel’s Loki, and how he never believed that the character was ever really a villain.

Currently, it is unclear when Loki will make his next appearance in the MCU, but it is impossible to imagine there not being one more story to be told before Hiddleston leaves the role behind for good. There have been several rumors of Loki appearing in a number of upcoming Marvel offerings, but the most likely place for his story to end is in Avengers: Secret Wars, when the Multiverse Saga is brought to an end, likely taking several big players of the franchise out of the MCU forever.

Hiddleston himself has played coy about his future, and has not yet closed the door on one of the most-loved characters of the entire Marvel franchise. Previously, he said on the matter:

“I will say it all comes full circle. It is a kind of conclusion to season two, it’s also the conclusion to seasons one and two, and it’s also the conclusion to 6 films and 12 episodes and 14 years of my life. It’s been a journey.”