Looking at LokiSpecial Edition: Avengers: Infinity War
Welcome to a special edition of my article series exploring the characterisation of the Norse god Loki within Marvel-based media. This time, I'm going to look at Loki's presence in the film Avengers: Infinity War, directed by Joe and Anthony Russo. You can read my overall review of the movie here; this article is all about Loki. (In the interest of full disclosure, it should be noted that my parents work for Disney, Marvel's parent company, though neither of them are directly involved with Marvel.) WARNING: THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD! Like, immediately. Close the window if you haven't seen the film and wish to be unspoiled. Still with me? Okay, here we go! Before seeing the film, I was a bit afraid they would backpedal Loki's character growth in Ragnarok and have him turn out to still be in cahoots with Thanos, like he was in the first Avengers. I'm happy to report that they don't even try to fake us out on that point; it's clear from the get-go that Thanos and Loki do not see each other as allies. Thanos doesn't point out that Loki was supposed to bring the stone to him; this suggests he doesn't believe Loki to still be his ally. While that doesn't necessarily mean Loki is Thor's ally either, the fact that neither Thanos nor Loki bothers at this point with any pretense that they are allies is still, to me, a hopeful sign. When we first see the Asgardian ship, it's in smoking ruins, Asgardians scattered about as they lay dead or dying; one of the Children, Ebony Maw, assures them, like a cult zealot, that they've died for a good cause, their sacrifice tipping the scales of the balance of the universe, and so they are now Children of Thanos. When we first see Loki, he's looking worse for wear, and wary, as he stands surrounded by voluntary, still-alive, non-Asgardian Children of Thanos. The mad titan picks a dazed Thor up off the ground, dragging him towards Loki. Thanos tells Loki to choose between the Tesseract and Thor's head, adding, "I presume you have a preference?" Loki assures him that he does ... and, after a pause, tells Thanos to kill away. Thanos sends power into Thor's head, making the god scream; Loki struggles to stay nonchalant about it -- he even seems, at first, satisfied to see Thor die. And I concede that I can see an argument for part of him feeling that way, still harbouring enough resentment that he might have momentarily chosen the tesseract over Thor ... but I don't personally believe he ever really was willing to let Thor die. For that matter, Thanos is clearly betting that Loki loves Thor -- and it pays off. Whether Loki was just calling the mad titan's bluff, or was willing to sacrifice Thor and changed his mind, Loki does indeed crack and tell Thanos to stop. There is no denying now that Loki loves his brother; if Thanos gets all the stones, Loki stands a good chance of suffering somehow, yet he's willing to risk that for Thor. Well, okay, we can say he's sure they will somehow defeat Thanos, and so it's not really a big deal for him to hand it over, but then again, if he loved Thor all along, I don't think he would have let Thor suffer in the first place if he wasn't at least a little worried they might not defeat Thanos. Thor points out that they don't have the Tesseract, saying it was destroyed on Asgard. Loki, looking chagrined, conjures it; Thor grumbles, "You really are the worst, brother!"
Despite Thor's ire, Loki replies, with great conviction, "I assure you, brother, the sun will shine on us again!" I'm touched that Loki would offer Thor that comfort! It may be self-serving -- maybe he's just saying it because he doesn't want Thor to be angry with him , or to scare Thanos -- but it still means he cares what Thor thinks of him. "Your optimism is misplaced, Asgardian," Thanos warns with a chuckle -- to which Loki replies, "Well for one thing, I'm not Asgardian." This moment makes me a little sad, but it seems more meant to distract Thanos rather than be a matter of disavowing the people he was raised by. "And for another ... we have a Hulk." And of course Loki bails while the Hulk attacks Thanos. I love this callback to what Tony said to Loki in the first Avengers film! It's a beautiful way to symbolise how Loki has redeemed himself, having him say it like he's an Avenger now. But where does he go during this fight? Well, I guess could see him not wanting to be anywhere near Hulk at that point .... Unfortunately, Thanos trounces Hulk; already near death, Heimdall uses the last of his power to send Hulk to Earth, before being run through by his own sword. Grieving, Thor threatens Thanos, but is quickly captured, bound by strips of metal. Meanwhile, it seems Loki dropped the Tesseract when he fled; Ebony Maw presents it to Thanos, who frees the Space Stone from the cube, placing it in his Infinity Gauntlet. Thanos remarks that there are two stones on Earth, charging his Children to find them. Loki approaches, suggesting that he could be their guide on Earth, as he has a bit of experience in that arena. "If you consider failure experience," Thanos replies, bemused. "I consider experience experience," Loki counters. Loki being ever the opportunist, I could see how he might want to strike such a deal, and think he would have made it in the past ... but I don't believe that's his intent here for one second, not even in a "he's bad for a moment but changes his mind" way. Getting all regal, Loki approaches, calling himself Prince of Asgard, Odinson, the rightful king of Jotunheim, and God of Mischief. While I know this is more a distraction, I like hearing Loki own his identity! Perhaps he is even doing it to raise his own courage. As he approaches (or perhaps just before; I can't quite remember), my faith in him is rewarded as we see him draw his daggers behind his back. He pledges his "undying fidelity" -- and then strikes with his daggers. I don't think Loki really expected that Thanos would think he was sincere, just that he's pledging so that Thanos would spare him. I think he hoped Thanos wouldn't guess his real purpose: to get Thanos to let his guard down and let Loki get close enough to use the daggers, in an assassination attempt. There was never any question in my mind, even before we saw the daggers, that Loki was preparing a double-cross, trying to lull the mad titan into a false sense of security. I don't think Thanos fell for it for a second, alas, but it doesn't matter if he did: Loki's attack is ineffectual. While Thor looks on in horror, Thanos slowly crushes Loki's throat, Loki's skin turning grey and vein-y. Loki manages to taunt the titan, gasping that Thanos will never be a god. There's a cracking sound, Thor crying out "No!" Thanos tosses his lifeless body aside, saying "No resurrections this time." Is that the writers telling us not to expect Loki to return? Or should we assume, since it's the villain saying it, that he's wrong? As Thanos leaves, Thor crawls to his brother's side, whispering his name, and collapses over him, weeping. As much as I wanted Loki to last much longer into the film, and have a chance to show how he'd changed to the rest of the Avengers -- and, well, not die -- I'm happy he went down a hero (though I wish he'd been a successful one), and am glad we got to see Thor mourn him (again). I'm also gratified that Thor later declares specifically that he's seeking vengeance for Loki. I'm still holding on to some small hope that Loki's death will be reversed in the fourth Avengers film (and thus the lives of the dead Asgardians also be restored), but if it's not, then I'm crossing my fingers that we'll see Thor somehow wish Loki back into existence, as he did in the comics, and we'll get Kid Loki .... Previous installments: Part One: Across the Universes Part Two: Rebirth on Earth-616 Part Three: Introducing the Mighty Kid Loki! Part Four: Journeying Into Mystery With Magpies Part Five: Going To Hel Part Six: The End of Fear, and a New Beginning Part Seven: More Than a Memory, a Bond Beyond Blood Part Eight: Wake Up, Little Loki, Wake Up! Part Nine: No Rest for the Wicked Part Ten: It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Loses an Identity Part Eleven: Loki the Wedding Planner Part Twelve: Loki the Diplomat, or Loki the Spy? Part Thirteen: The Road to Manchester is Paved with Good Intentions Part Fourteen: A+ Parenting Part Fifteen: The Trust Issue Part Sixteen: The Best-Laid Schemes of Gods and Demons Part Seventeen: Whose Side Are You On, Anyway? Part Eighteen: Heel, Hel-Wolf, Heel! Part Nineteen: Putting Out the Fire Part Twenty: The Burden of the Crown Part Twenty-One: Good Versus Evil Part Twenty-Two: Case In Point Part Twenty-Three: The Waiting Game Part Twenty-Four: The Parent Trap Part Twenty-Five: Saved by the Belle Part Twenty-Six: Something Sinister Part Twenty-Seven: Psyche! Part Twenty-Eight: You Can't Always Get What You Want Part Twenty-Nine: Breakfast Meat! Er, Meet! Part Thirty: A Wild Patri-Not Chase Part Thirty-One: The Exes and the Oh!s Part Thirty-Two: Mother's Day Ill-Wishing Part Thirty-Three: Thor: The Dark World Prelude #2 Special Edition: Review of the film Thor: The Dark World (Part One) Special Edition: Review of the film Thor: The Dark World (Part Two) Part Thirty-Four: Time for a Change Part Thirty-Five: His Own Worst Enemy Part Thirty-Six: The Gang's All Here Part Thirty-Seven: Brother to Brother Part Thirty-Eight: Spiders are Pretty Fly Part Thirty-Nine: Like Father, Like Daughter Part Forty: Locks and Keys Looking at Loki, Part Forty-One: Dating in the Fast Lane Part Forty-Two: An Otter Catastrophe Part Forty-Three: A Gram of Truth Part Forty-Four: Loki Laufeyson and the Prisoner of Asgardia Part Forty-Five: Say What, Now?? Part Forty-Six: If You Need Me, I'll Be Elsewhere Part Forty-Seven: Changing Sides, Changing Genders Part Forty-Eight: Jail-Breaks Part Forty-Nine: Family Reunions Part Fifty: Old Frienemies Part Fifty-One: Truth be Told Part Fifty-Two: A Villainous League of Their Own Part Fifty-Three: Introducing the God of Heroism Part Fifty-Four: Nature Versus Nurt--Err, Magic Part Fifty-Five: Broken Spells, Broken Hearts Special Edition: The Super Hero Squad Show Part Fifty-Six: Truth and Consequences Special Edition: LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload Part Fifty-Seven: The Trial Begins Part Fifty-Eight: The Never-Was and Future King Part Fifty-Nine: The Devil and the Drink Special Edition: Ultimate Spider-Man, Season 1 Part Sixty: Reinventing the Wheel of Fate Part Sixty-One: Cupid of Mischief Special Edition: Ultimate Spider-Man, Season 2 Part Sixty-Two: The New Guy Special Edition: Ultimate Spider-Man, Season 3, Part One Part Sixty-Three: Best Buds ... with Bucky?? Part Sixty-Four: It's the End of the Universe as We Know it (and Loki Seems Fine) Part Sixty-Five: Is This the Never-Ending Story? Part Sixty-Six: When One Door Closes .... Part Sixty-Seven: We Haven't Been Properly Introduced .... Part Sixty-Eight: I am an Army Part Sixty-Nine: Love and Marriage ... Don't Always Go Together Like a Horse and Carriage Part Seventy: Not-So-Hero Worship Part Seventy-One: Getting Political Special Edition: Thor: Dueling with Giants Part Seventy-Two: Embracing One's Fan-Base Part Seventy-Three: Vigilante Electee Part Seventy-Four: Winners and Losers Part Seventy-Five: Real Estate Part Seventy-Six: Just Call Me Severus Part Seventy-Seven: Getting Squirrely Part Seventy-Eight: Loki Ragna-Rocks! Part Seventy-Nine: Rocking Gods Special Edition: Thor: Ragnarok, Part One Special Edition: Thor: Ragnarok, Part Two Part Eighty: Keeping Up Appearances Part Eighty-One: The New Sorcerer Supreme in Town Part Eighty-Two: The Squirrel, the Girl, and the Yggdrasil Part Eighty-Three: The Grifters and the Grifted Part Eighty-Four: Trouble Comes a-Knockin' Part Eighty-Five: Dealing with Surfer Dudes is No Walk on the Beach Other Loki-related writings of mine ... For the Love of Loki - My review of the first Thor live-action film (originally done for Pink Raygun, now housed at my Tumblr), with heavy Loki-centric commentary. Thor: Tales of Asgard - My review of the animated film, with some commentary on Loki. The Avengers - My review of the film, with some commentary on Loki.For the Love of Loki - My review of the first Thor live-action film (originally at Pink Raygun, now at Tumblr), with heavy Loki-centric commentary. Thor: Tales of Asgard - My review of the animated film, with some commentary on Loki. The Avengers - My review of the film, with some commentary on Loki.
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