Of all the chaos and uncertainty raised in the aftermath of Avengers: Infinity War, perhaps the most divisive unanswered question was the fate of everybody’s favorite bad guy. It remains to be seen if the Loki that Thanos slayed was YET ANOTHER mental projection, or this finally was the time that the devious demigod’s luck ran out. One thing that definitely isn’t in doubt though is that it isn’t the last you’ve seen of the villain, though a new rumor suggests that the next time you meet him he might well be a little shorter than you remember.
The House Of Mouse is busily in the process of removing all of their material from the existing streaming services, in preparation for be launch of the new Disney+ service at the end of 2019. As well as all of the current Marvel movies and TV shows, they have also announced a slew of new Marvel Cinematic Universe TV projects, including a Loki solo series. But fans expecting a whole load more Hiddleston may be in for a shock, as a rumor reported in That Hashtag Show this week states that the new show will instead focus on Loki as a child.
Assuming this is something grounded in fact rather than supposition or speculation, there are two real avenues that the show-runners could travel down in order for the new project to work. The first (and most boring) is to go back to the character’s childhood, examining his tempestuous relationship with Thor and his parents. The other (which is quite frankly the one that we hope they go for) is that the company follows the original Ragnarok storyline from the comics, which sees Loki and the other slain Asgardians reincarnated on earth in new bodies.
The main advantage of the flashback format would be the ability to feature Hiddleston within the show as a means of framing or introducing each story. The British actor remains the franchise’s biggest success story to date, and a runaway fan-favourite. Much like with The Young Indiana Jones chronicles, the Hiddleston actor could be utilized at the start or end of each episode as a means of anchoring the storyline within the existing MCU timeline.
On the flip-side, by using the Ragnarok mechanism to re-cast the character, there are far more entertaining possibilities that can be tinkered with. This includes recasting pretty much all of the Asgardian characters, including the Warriors Three and Sif. Plus the idea of Loki having to once again go through puberty and his teenage years is also massively appealing.
Frankly, given the character’s extraordinary popularity and appeal, you could incorporate it into pretty much any kind of movie or TV show, and fans would flock to it in droves. With the new streaming platform only mere months away from launching, and the new MCU projects sure to be a key component of the company’s advertising campaign for it, it shouldn’t be too long before this Loki rumor is confirmed.