Tom Hiddleston knew of Loki's demise in Avengers: Infinity War even before filming for Thor: Ragnarok started in July of 2016. Aside from having to effectively portray their respective characters without getting full scripts, the cast of the Marvel juggernaut was also given the difficult task of not inadvertently revealing any kind of spoiler regarding the well-guarded movie. And while there were some slip-ups here and there, they all managed to keep the film's finer details tightly under wraps up until it hit theaters.  Elizabeth Olsen, who plays Scarlet Witch, has even recently come out to express how relieved she is that they can finally talk about the movie out in the open. That said, it seems like things were worse for Hiddleston considering that he knew of Loki's death and kept it a secret for two years.

It's not Loki's demise came as a total shock. After all, he failed Thanos and never tried to make amends after his disappointing attempt to take over Earth and deliver the Space Stone. But that doesn't make his death any less heartbreaking considering that he seemed to finally patch things up with Thor. Chances are that some fans were still hoping that somehow he'd be spared and given the chance to redeem himself after all the chaos he caused. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

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Thor and Loki Get Help Ragnarok

Attending Ace Comic-Con over the weekend (via ComicBook), the British actor spoke about learning Loki's fate long before he even shot the scene. But not all that came out of being burdened with knowledge was bad, Hiddleston explained that knowing how Loki's journey will end actually helped his performance in Ragnarok.

"So, I’ve known about that scene for two years. I met with Marvel in May 2016, and they were actually telling me the story of Ragnarok with concept art and images. The Russos came in, and I introduced myself. So, all four of us sat down, and they said this is how Infinity War begins.

"My whole journey through making Thor: Ragnarok — I knew this was coming. By the end of Thor: Ragnarok, Loki has been accepted as Thor’s brother again.

"When I came to shoot the scene in Infinity War, I think it’s very powerful he calls himself an Odinson, and that closes the whole journey of Loki and what he can do. It [Loki's death] set the stakes up emotionally. It takes the stakes up dramatically. You know that Thanos is someone who’s more dangerous than anyone we’ve seen before."

Considering that writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely started working on Infinity War's story around 2015 while also filming Captain America: Civil War, it makes sense that Hiddleston would be informed of what lies ahead for Loki come Thanos' official entry to the MCU. The writing duo has been forthcoming about working closely with Ragnarok director Taika Waititi with his plans of a total tonal overhaul for the threequel, and since the God of Thunder played a pivotal part in Avengers 3, they wanted to make sure that his characterization was consistent all throughout. It's also probably the main motivation to give the brothers arguably some of their most genuine interactions in their 7-year MCU history, which in turn, made Loki's death more heartbreaking.

Despite his death, fans are still set to see Hiddleston as Loki (possibly for the last time) in next year's Avengers 4. Iron Man is set to revisit the Battle of New York which Loki was a huge part of and set photos hint that the Phase 3 capper will show what immediately happened after his defeat. It's still unclear how this will factor in the Earth's Mightiest Heroes' final bout with Thanos, but considering that it's the Mad Titan's first attempt to take over Earth, it's possible that the heroes will re-examine its events and do things differently to prevent his catastrophic snap six years later.

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Source: ComicBook

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