‘I’m a temporary torchbearer’, says Tom Hiddleston on portraying Loki

Washington [US], March 3 (ANI): When it comes to playing Marvel’s god of chaos, Hollywood actor Tom Hiddleston has said he sees himself as a “temporary torchbearer”.
According to Variety, the comments were made by Hiddleston on Wednesday evening during a panel discussion about Disney Plus’ original series ‘Loki’ hosted by the Royal Television Society.
Hiddleston was joined on stage in London by his co-star Sophia Di Martino, who portrayed Sylvie, series writer Michael Waldron and director Kate Herron [who appeared via Zoom.]
“I’m a temporary torchbearer,” Hiddleston said of sharing the character with Di Martino as well as Richard E. Grant and an alligator, all of whom were Loki variants, in the series.
He added, “I’ve always thought that. It’s a great role. It’s an archetype, the trickster god, the agent of chaos. I’m just here interpreting that for the time being. Loki has been here for centuries and will be here for centuries more and I’m just stepping into that silhouette for now.”
These comments from Hiddleston come as the first tranche of Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) faces, including that of Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans, have hung up their superhero suits post the release of ‘Avengers: Endgame’ in 2019.
Hiddleston, who has now been playing Loki for over a decade, explained that he was drawn to making the eponymous limited series due to the show’s themes of identity and acceptance.
“This idea of somehow the [Time Variance Authority] confronting Loki with the shape-shifting nature of his identity and asking him ‘Who are you?’ I found it a new avenue to explore with this character I’ve been playing for a while. It felt original. It didn’t feel like we were repeating,” Hiddleston said.
‘Loki’, which revolves around time travel, even touches on more erudite topics such as philosophy and psychology.
“Michael [Waldron] and I were having breakfast a couple of years ago when [he’d] written that first pilot and found ourselves talking about psychoanalytic theory and repetition compulsion and [the question of] can you ever change? Is it possible for people to change? Even if you do will people accept that you’ve changed? Is it possible to know yourself entirely?” Hiddleston recalled.
In a wide-ranging talk, Hiddleston, Di Martino, Waldron and Herron discussed various aspects of the series, which will be returning for a second season. “You’ve got to test the fences,” Waldron, who has also written the forthcoming ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’, said of some of the show’s wackier elements (such as the afore-mentioned Loki alligator).
Waldron also revealed that the series’ dialogue-heavy structure was “me testing the fences. That could have easily been another laser armadillo situation.”
As per Variety, in Waldron’s eyes, the extended dialogue made sense for the character. “One of Loki’s superpowers is his ability to talk his way out of any situation, talk his way into any situation. You want to watch Superman fly, so I wanted to watch Loki talk.” (ANI)