Avengers 1 Took A Massive Villain Risk (But It Paid Off)

In 2012, Marvel Studios' first big team-up movie, The Avengers, was a massive risk on its own, but the project also took a gamble with its main villain, Loki. Crossovers weren't commonplace in the early days of the MCU, and the first big threat to bring the Avengers together needed to be a good one. Surprisingly, Marvel went with a returning villain rather than a fresh foe, but fortunately for the MCU, it paid off.

Deciding to bring back Loki was a massive risk for many reasons. For starters, at the beginning of The Avengers, the only character Loki has any connection to is Thor. This could have backfired with only one character having an emotional connection to the villain in a movie with so many heroes. Plus, the first Thor had not been released when production started on The Avengers. There was a chance that Loki and Thor didn't work in their own movie and audiences would have gone into The Avengers already not enjoying the villain and/or one of the main heroes. To put into perspective how risky this move was, imagine Marvel bringing Thor: The Dark World's Malekith back as the main villain for Avengers 2.

Loki Being Avengers 1's Main Villain Wouldn't Happen Today

It's odd to think that a villain from an MCU solo movie was brought back for an Avengers movie. These days the audience expects a new world-ending threat or arch-nemesis for Earth's Mightiest Heroes to fight. When other Avengers movies have had Ultron and Thanos as their main antagonists, Loki seems like an odd choice. The decision is even weirder when looked at in the grand scheme of things. Loki is the only MCU character to ever start out as the main villain in a solo project to then go on to be the main villain in another movie.

One of the reasons for this could be that the MCU has had various forgettable villains that just wouldn't work if brought back for a sequel, let alone an Avengers-level crossover film. The villains that have worked and could have returned either died or simply fulfilled their narrative potential and story and would have been brought back just for the sake of it. Even good villains like Hela and Xu Wenwu would feel odd to bring back, as their stories feel contained to their solo movie appearances.

Why Loki As Avengers 1's Main Villain Worked

The main reason why Loki worked in The Avengers is because of Tom Hiddleston. He and Chris Hemsworth did great work in Thor together, and this continued into The Avengers. One reason why a new villain typically works for these types of movies is that the threat is contained within their story. Take Ultron, for example; the relationship and threat are central to Tony Stark, but because of the context of the film, it affects the rest of the Avengers as well. This is why Loki worked in The Avengers as he has a personal connection to Thor, but the movie expands his relationship to the other characters, so the threat is felt across the board.

Tom Hiddleston's chemistry with the rest of the cast is also always a highlight in each movie he appears in. He became an instant fan favorite and continues to be to this day. Tom Hiddleston as Loki is so good that not only did he return for The Avengers, but he kept returning in subsequent movies, including Thor: The Dark World, Thor: Ragnarok, and the other Avengers movies, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. He was so popular as the character, still, after the conclusion of the Infinity Saga — and his death in the MCU — that Tom Hiddleston got to star in his own Disney+ series, Loki.

Loki's Avengers Role Stayed Faithful To The Marvel Comics

Loki being the first villain the Avengers fought in the MCU may have been a risk, but it kept the tradition from the comics, where he was also the group's inaugural foe. In The Avengers #1, published in 1963, Loki manipulated a situation to get his brother Thor to fight the Hulk, but in doing so Ant-Man, the Wasp, and Iron Man also turned up, thus forming the now-iconic team. The plot isn't too dissimilar from that of the MCU's. Tom Hiddleston's Loki return in The Avengers is the sort that might never be done again in the MCU for another character, but as history shows, it was the right move.

Next: Loki Can't Return To The Thor Movies, But They Can Reunite In Avengers 5