Alligator Loki Is Not Based On A Marvel Comics Character

Michael Waldron, Loki lead writer, confirms Alligator Loki, who appeared in the most recent episode of the Disney+ show, is not based on any Marvel comics character. Loki premiered on Disney+ on June 9th and represents the third Marvel television series on the streaming service after WandaVision and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. The series follows Tom Hiddleston reprising his role as the titular God of Mischief who, in the wake of the character's escape during Avengers: Endgame, is branded a variant by the Time Variance Authority (TVA) for allegedly deviating from the sacred timeline and agrees to help them track down an even more dangerous Loki that threatens the fabric of time. Hiddleston first played the role of Loki in 2011's Thor, and quickly established the character as a fan-favorite character. He went on to reprise his role five more time throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe before his getting his own spin-off show in Loki.

The most recent episode of Loki, "Journey Into Mystery" saw everyone's favorite variant travelling across The Void with the assistance of a number of other variant Lokis, including Richard E. Grant's Classic Loki, Jack Veal's Kid Loki, and Deobia Oparei's Boastful Loki. Marvel Comics' history is littered with alternate versions of its character from across the multi-verse, and Loki as a show has not been shy in making reference to them with both Kid Loki and Sophie DiMartino's Sylvie having requisite counterparts within the comics.

The character that everyone is most curious about however is the variants' reptilian companion: Alligator Loki. Simply adorned with a pair of golden horns, the character first appeared in the post-credit scene of episode 4, "The Nexus Event" before having a larger role in the most recent episode. Marvel has since confirmed that, despite being "really cute" in Hiddleston's own words, there is no basis for Alligator Loki in Marvel Comics; rather, he is a completely original creation. Waldron described the thought-process behind the character, stating that:

"We were talking about [how] we want to meet many different versions of Loki in this show. I was just like, there should be an Alligator Loki. And it's like, well, why? Because he's green. It's so stupid, but it also makes total sense … You almost have to take it seriously, like maybe he is [a Loki]? Why shouldn't there be an alligator version of Loki? For all we know, that's an alligator universe or whatever. It's just the sort of irreverent thing that, in this show, we play straight and make the audience take it seriously.”

Alligator Loki on the grass in Loki Episode 5

The idea of an Alligator universe somewhere in the MCU's multiverse fits perfect with Loki's quirkier moments, especially the notion that he may not even be a Loki at all, but rather a lost animal that the other Lokis found and adopted as their mascot. Director Kate Herron also described the process of bringing the character to life on screen through CGI but with a stuffed-doll filling in on-set, admitting that "tragically [we] didn't have Sean Gunn crawling around on the floor.” A tragedy for the series, if only for the behind-the-scenes footage that we could have potentially been privy too as a result, but Gunn likely had other commitments.

The most curious part however is the ultimate decision to go with an alligator. Yes, they are green, but anyone who has seen Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse would be aware of an animal equivalent of Spider-Man that exists - Spider-Ham. Within Spider-Ham's universe, there are, naturally, animal versions of almost every other Marvel characters as well, including Loki. This version is a dog named Looky, the brother of Thrr, Dog of Thunder. It's unclear why the writers chose to ignore this reference to a pre-existing Marvel character, but perhaps they simply didn't want to step on the toes of Sony's animated Spider-Man films. Regardless, Alligator Loki is a fun addition to Loki and if his glorious purpose is to be as adorable as possible, mission accomplished.

More: Why The Avengers Didn’t Care That Loki Stole The Tesseract In Endgame

Source: Marvel