Tom Hiddleston, the British actor, was speaking to Lily James of ‘Pam and Tommy‘ fame, for Apple TV+’s ‘Actors on Actors’ series, when the 41-year-old noted that the Marvel Cinematic Universe must “reflect the world we live in”. Hence, he was happy when MCU clarified in the ‘Loki‘ series that the anti-hero was bisexual. 

“Back from my early days of researching the character in the ancient myths, the identity of Loki was fluid in every aspect and in gender, in sexuality”, Hiddleston said, adding, “It’s a very ancient part of the character and I think I thought about it. … It hadn’t emerged in the stories we’ve told. And I was really pleased and privileged, actually, that it’s came up in the series.” 

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The actor conceded that it is a small step. Hiddleston continued, “There’s so much more to do. But the Marvel Cinematic Universe has to reflect the world we live in. So it was an honour to bring that up. It was really important to me. It was really important to [director] Kate Herron and [showrunner] Michael Waldron, and I’m pleased that we could bring it into our story.” 

In the third episode of the Disney+ series, Loki tells Lady Loki, played by Sophia Di Martino, that he’s had romantic pasts with both princes and princesses. However, the series doesn’t make any other references to Loki’s sexuality beyond this line of dialogue. 

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That said, Hiddleston’s call that the MCU should reflect the world we live in, has found expression in the superhero franchise’s increasing drive towards inclusivity. This gradually began with ‘Black Panther‘ which showed an African superhero and began gaining momentum in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ which dealt with displacement and becoming a refugee, underneath a thoroughly gripping tale. Gradually, the next phase of Marvel content has been even more sensitized, with the inclusion of openly gay characters in films like ‘Eternals‘ and ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness‘. The most recent addition, ‘Ms Marvel‘, features the first Muslim superhero, continuing MCU’s drive to break stereotypes.