Tom Hiddleston originally auditioned for the title character in 2011’s ‘Thor.’ The actor shared the details on his first Marvel contract during a new chat on the ‘Seaman Says’ podcast:
“It was really curious… 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.’”
He continued:
“And I thought, ‘Oh, I wonder if anyone else’s says that.’ I don’t think they did, to be honest.”
He Didn’t Know About The Franchise Plans
Tom Hiddleston played Loki for over a decade and seemingly ended his run in the second season of his solo show. The actor wasn’t aware that he was signing for more than one movie at first. He shared:
“And after that, very shortly, they called Chris Hemsworth and me on the same day and they said, ‘Look, we’re gonna build these two characters together, introduce them at the same time, and you’re gonna have this massive journey.’ Chris and I thought we were auditioning for just one movie.”
Hiddleston was later introduced to Kevin Feige’s plans for ‘The Avengers.’ He recalled their first meeting:
“And I was like, ‘What?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, well, we’re gonna make “Thor,” and then we’re gonna make a Captain America film, and then we’re gonna make an Avengers film. Loki will be the villain in the Avengers film, because he was the first villain in the first Avengers comic.’ And I was like, literally, sort of, floated out of that meeting. Life is about to change radically, and it did.”
The Actor Doesn’t Think Of Loki As A Villain
Loki appeared in several Marvel projects including the animated ‘What If…?’ series and a show of his own so far. Hiddleston refused to describe the God of Mischief as a villain of these stories after playing him for 14 years.
He told ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ a few weeks ago:
“I’m aware that he’s made some interesting choices, which could be accumulated into a picture that looks like he’s a villain. And once upon a time, he was making some misguided choices. You know, trying to take over New York and the Avengers having to assemble to stop him. That was a bad day.”
The actor noted that Loki’s choices got ‘slightly more generous, loving, and heroic’ as he sacrificed himself for the Multiverse in his final moments.
