For more than a decade, Tom Hiddleston has totally controlled the character of MCU supervillain/anti-hero Loki, and it’s difficult to picture anybody else playing the god of mischief. However, the English actor, who is 42 today, was more interested in playing Thor, a role that eventually went to Chris Hemsworth. Loki has become a constant in the MCU since the film ‘Thor’, thanks to the characterization and Hiddleston’s performance, and there’s a reason Marvel continues bringing him back.

Loki believes his adopted father, Odin, has wronged him. This is why he is constantly at battle with everyone he knows, including his brother, albeit with a cunning smile. He is a mass murderer, but he still manages to evoke sympathy from the audience.

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Hiddleston does an excellent job channeling Loki’s distinct attitude, complete with a mischievous grin. Loki may appear to be a good person for a time, but he will always return to his shady ways. And the audience is well aware of this. 

“Tom gave you the idea that he could be ready for anything, performance-wise,” (WHO IS HE?) Branagh told Entertainment Weekly in 2021. Tom, like Loki, has a vivid imagination. He has a sly sense of humor and was eager to participate. He had a star-like demeanor, yet he was more of a team player.”

“He realised he was already a part of something extraordinary [and] it was a particular character in a special part of the Marvel universe’s early history where [he] also had to stand up in other ways,” he continued.

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The trickster’s popularity among MCU fans is such that his death in Avengers: Infinity War, when he was choked to death by Thanos — as final a death as one can get — was not the end of the road for him. Loki, who was beaten in the Battle of New York, escaped with the Space Stone, which led to the creation of a Disney+ TV series based on the character.